The Darkness Pirates
by tLoD
Summary: A.U: Luffy eats the Yami Yami no Mi and meets some people early what effects will this have on his journey ? Extended crew, Harem, Different crew, Darker Luffy, Eventual lemons.
1. Prologue: a difference in Time

**Hey guys, this is my first fanfic! I'm going to put a few spoilers that you can skip, just to give you a general idea of where it's going and if there are any turn offs:**

 **SPOILER**

 **Luffy eats Yami Yami no Mi, Kuina replaces Zoro, Usopp doesn't join the crew, eventually Luffy takes Goro Goro no Mi from Enel.**

 **SPOILER END**

 **If you're still here thank you and don't forget to rate and review (it means a lot)**

 _10 years before Canon - Sea near Ohara_

In the distance, the island of Ohara burned in an unstoppable inferno, the famed Tree of knowledge was reduced to a glorified torche that's light could be seen for miles. The island was surrounded by dozens of marine ships from the buster call that reduced the island to this pitiful state. But unbeknownst to them, a single boat manned by a tiny figure had slipped away. As the 7-year-old Nico Robin looked back to see what remained of her birthplace, she failed to hold back her tears. Everyone she ever met and everything she ever knew, was gone, taken by the flames, ripped away from her by the corrupt government that refused to let the truth be known and that now saw her very existence as an unforgivable sin. Soon the sadness the girl felt faded, consumed by a rage stronger than the flames that had reduced her home to ash. On that day, as she sailed away, fighting against the waves that threatened to crush her small embarkation, Nico Robin swore she would find the truth the World Government had tried so hard to hide, that she would use it to bring them down, and that they too would know the pain of having their world ripped away from them and destroyed before their very eyes. She swore it in the name of every deity she knew, on the memories of the people she had lost today and on her very life. She would not let their deaths be in vain. She knew what she had to do, where the truth she was now desperate to find laid hidden: the Grand Line.

 _Meanwhile - Off the cost of Mary Geoise_

The city burned, to many of the former slaves currently on the ship it was a scene straight out of their wildest dreams _,_ the hell that some of them had spent their entire lives in, was finally getting what it deserved. All-most all of them had a smile on their faces, for many of them it was the first time in years their lips curled upwards, the feeling of joy so foreign to them they wondered if they where somehow ill. However, one of them was noticeably not smiling, the 7-year-old Boa Hancock had tears filling her eyes, oh she did not cry for the city that burned, but for her two sisters that left their lives in that god forsaken hell. While she had only spent half a year as a slave, she had lost far more than 6 months. When she and her sisters had been bought in Sabaody, they were instantly force-fed devil fruits with unknown effects, she was lucky enough that the apparently only effect of the fruit was to make her more beautiful, her sisters unfortunately ended up with the **Hebi Hebi no Mi, Model: King Cobra** and the **Hebi Hebi no Mi, Model: Anaconda** the interesting Zoan duo gave their sadistic new owner a idea: to enter them in the fighting pits. The World Nobles, in one of their sadistic epiphanies, had developed what they believed to be the ultimate form of entertainment, fights to the death between devil fruit users. Two contestants would enter a huge room made of seastone and the entire fight would be relayed through Den Den Mushi to the World Nobles sitting safely and comfortably in a lounge. Sandersonia was the first to die, she won half a dozen fights until she was pit against another Zoan who ate the **Neko Neko no Mi, Model: Lion** , she almost won but lost at the last moment due to second of carelessness that led to her being ripped in half. Hancock saw the hole thing due to her owner bringing both sisters to watch, out of cruelty no doubt. Marigold, managed to win another dozen fights before ending up against a logia, she never stood a chance. And again Hancock was made to watch as her sister suffocated to death. Compared to them, Hancock could be said to have gotten off easy, lucky for her, her owner had no interest in young girls or girls in general for that matter, she was only made to clean the manor and serve food, with the occasional beating of course. But all of that was behind her now, she was free… or was she. She could still feel the mark on her back reminding her of the pain she felt when it was burnt onto her skin, with that mark on her back she would be followed to the ends of the earth, always looking over her shoulder. Could she truly return to Amazon Lily, wouldn't it be the first place the marines will check, wouldn't it simply endanger her people and besides what was left for her there ? No, she couldn't go back, she needed to hide, where no one would ever look for her, the most backwater place in the world, the last place anyone would expect a former Kuja tribe princess to be, the weakest sea. A Fish-man soon began asking the former slaves of their hometowns to send them home, when came the fish-man turn to Hancock he asked:

"What about you, little girl? Where are you from?"

Without hesitation Hancock gave her prepared answer

"East Blue"

The Fish-man looked a bit troubled before asking:

"You're gonna have to be a wee bit more specific, little girl... The East Blue is rather large."

Hancock was taken aback by the question, she hadn't really thought beyond 'weakest sea' but the East Blue still coved a bit more than a fifth of the planet. She began to panic, what would the pirate do if he knew she was lying, would he hit her like the World Noble? Her thoughts began racing as she remembered the night Sandersonia died, when she overheard a World Noble complaining about the King of a pathetic nation in a corner of the East Blue that kept pestering him about coming over to visit, she remembered that night like it was yesterday but the name of that kingdom... what was it ?!

"Well…"

The Fish-man asked, obviously annoyed by the girl's silence. This spurred Hancock on as she replayed that World Noble's voice over and over in her head. _'oa Kingdom?, no. Loa Kingdom?, no. Zoa Kingdom? No…'_ it was on the tip of her tongue, any minute now.

"Look girl if you're not gonna tell me, I can't help you-"

"GOA KINGDOM !"

 _Meanwhile - in the New World_

"Teach… you. Bastard."

Gasped Thatch, as he bled out. How could it end like this, he had served faithfully for years as the 4th division commander to Whitebeard, he had been nothing but loyal and faithful, he had never begrudge the man that now stood looming over him with a bloody dagger in one had and his devil fruit in the other. Yet there he laid, murdered by the man he once called brother and over what ? A fucking fruit !

"I'm sorry Thatch, I really am !"

He didn't look sorry with that ecstatic grin on his face…

"But I need that fruit, far more than you"

And with that, Marshal D. Teach swallowed the purple devil fruit hole, he knew it needed only one bite to take effect… but he didn't want to risk it. As soon as he had eaten the fruit, and the joy of finally obtaining what he had searched for most of his life, subsided. The full implication of what he had done sunk in, he had fucked up… the plan was simply to steal the fruit and sail away under the cover of the dark. But now he had done the one thing that would make the strongest man in the world and his entire crew, follow him to the ends of the earth. While he did plan on antagonizing Whitebeard eventually to take his fruit, this was to soon, he needed to learn to control his new powers and, more importantly, a crew. He was brutally brought out of his thoughts by the shouts of his former crewmates.

"Thatch !"

"You traitor !"

"You're dead you fool !"

"HAR HAR HAR HAR ! It what am I thinkin' ! of course, it was worth it ! Behold, the strongest devil fruit in the world… **Black Hole**!"

The incoming pirates froze as they braced for what they assumed was an extremely powerful attack. But after a few seconds, they began looking around and noticed nothing had changed.

"Ara? What's this ?"

Spoke Teach in confusion as he looked down at his hand.

"Ehu… was that it ?"

The pirates deadpanned, in obvious disappointment.

"No! Of course not you idiots! I just can't seem to get it to work…"

Said Teach as he began to shake his hand furiously in an attempt to make his fruit work, but to his horror it began... to stretch!

' _No, no, no, NO! This can't be happening! I Checked a thousand times! Round, purple, swirls, leaf- leaf... THE LEAF! Oh fuck, the leaf! There was no leaf! I thought he just plucked it out! I ate the fuckin'_ _ **Gomu Gomu no mi**_ _! A motherfucking paramecia! Not even a strong paramecia! Oh I'm dead, so very very dead!'_

Teach began to pale a he started to fully grasp the gravity of his situation (no pun intended). And so he did what any sane man would do in this situation, which no sane man would ever find themselves in, and ran for it or rather _bounced_ for it. The Whitebeard pirates looked in complete confusion as they saw the murder leap away, had he really just killed one of Whitebeard's commanders, antagonized, a Yonko, the strongest man in the world for the ability to jump a bit higher? _'An idiot…'_ they all thought as one...

 **AN: Yeah so as you can see I changed Robin's and Hancock's age to make them as young as Luffy. Because A: I need it like that for later and B: It kinda always weirded me out that Robin (a 30 year old) followed a 17 year-old as a captain (not even a mature 17 year old) and that no one seems to care that Boa Hancock (a 31 year old) was in love with a minor.**


	2. Chapter 1: Shattered Illusions

**AN: Hey guys, I'm super glad you enjoyed the prologue. As you guessed, I intended it as a teaser to test the waters and I'm really pleased to see you seemed to enjoy the concept. While the beginning was a bit dark, I do plan on putting some humor in the story. For now enjoy the first real chapter !**

 _10 years before cannon - Foosha Village_

"CHEERS! TO OUR IDIOT LUFFY"

"Hey!"

"Really Luffy, you're an idiot…"

"Shut up Shanks! It didn't even hurt!"

"Seriously, what kind of fool stabs himself in the eye…"

"A tough fool!"

"Didn't you just call yourself a fool?"

"You tricked me!"

"HAHAHAHA"

Laughter resounded in Partys Bar, the trendiest drinking ground in Foosha village and most recent hangout spot for the Red Hair pirates, who were currently the ones laughing at the antics of the village's 'mascot', also known as Monkey D. Luffy. The 7-year-old had recently decided he was going to be Pirate King and felt the best way to do it would be by joining the famous Red Hair Shanks. Unfortunately for Luffy, Shanks had decided he was too young to join, and in an attempt to prove himself Luffy had stabbed himself in the eye, or rather just below the eye, leaving him with a rather iconic scar.

"So, can I join now?"

"Luffy, stabbing yourself, does not make you 10 years older…"

"I'm not a kid anymore!"

"Of course, you're not, do you want me to buy you a drink?"

"Really! Jee Shanks thanks!"

Never one to refuse free food Luffy ordered his regular orange juice and asked for the curly straw. But as he slurped down his juice, he noticed Shanks and the rest of the crew silently chuckling, taking a moment to connect the dots, he suddenly understood he was the object of their mockery.

"You tricked me again!"

"Whatever, just drink your juice"

While Luffy was certainly angry, he would never waste juice (or any kind of food for that matter), so he downed it in a single gulp and turned away to a corner booth, sulking. At the same moment, some bandits burst in, attracting the attention of the gathered crew away from the young boy, as the bandit leader was bragging about having an 8 million beli bounty. Never one to care about such matters, Luffy turned to the purple fruit that laid in the open (and unattended) chest before him, feeling his stomach gurgling he decided to eat it. After the first bite he instantly regretted it, the strange fruit was by far the worst thing he had ever eaten, it tasted like the innards of a fish on the verge of going bad. But Luffy soldiered on and ate every last bit of the fruit before him, as it was an unforgivable sin to waste food, by the time he was done Luffy felt sick. He was however, distracted from his suffering by sound of Shanks being pushed to the ground by the bandit while covered in alcohol.

"Hah! I'll leave you to your cleaning your worthless pirate!"

Spat the bandit, as he left. As he closed the door a few seconds of silence reigned, before Shanks and his crew burst into laughter.

"He got you good captain!"

"Yeah if you could see the look on your face!"

"Too bad for me 'ey"

However, Shanks stopped laughing when he saw they look on Luffy's face. Gone was the young boy's look of respect and adoration, and in its placed was disdain and sadness. That look the grown man hurt a lot more than he expected, Shanks had grown to like the boy and saw him as a younger brother. But he now realized that he had let Luffy down, he had told him of his adventures in which he was brave and strong, but when the time came to truly show the boy, he had seemed weak and cowardly.

"Luffy-"

"Shut up! You liar! You call yourself a pirate? You're just a coward!"

As Luffy stormed off towards the door, Shanks grabbed him by the arm, hoping to explain himself. In reality he had hoped to teach Luffy a lesson on humility, but it had backfired and turn out to have the opposite effect.

"Let go!"

Suddenly Luffy turned around, his free hand entirely coated in Darkness, and pushed away. What should have been a 7-year-old's attempt at resistance, sent Shanks flying in a straight line across the bar and into the opposite wall with a loud SLAM! The entire room stared in shock at the display, but before any of them could react, Luffy ran out of the bar with tears in his eyes.

"W-What was that"

Asked Yassop as he turned to his recovering captain.

"The chest! Check the chest!"

"It's empty! The fruit-"

"He ate it!"

' _Damit! That wasn't the_ _ **Gomu Gomu no Mi,**_ _it was the bloody_ _ **Yami Yami no Mi**_ _! I'll need to talk to Luffy once he calms down.'_ __

Unfortunately, Shanks didn't see Luffy for the next few days, it was obvious the boy was avoiding him, and he couldn't blame fully the boy. Luffy had looked up to him, and he had failed to live up to his expectations, the boy had felt cheated. It was with a heavy heart that Shanks departed on a voyage before having settled things, it felt weird not to have Luffy try to sneak aboard or ask to come along. But the biggest shock came when he returned, no one was there to welcome them, but the mayor and Makino ran up to them in panic:

"It's Luffy! The bandits have him!"

Without a moment's hesitation Shanks and his entire crew ran towards the bar.

 _A few moments before_

Luffy had been depressed for a few days, he avoided the village and stayed in the surrounding forest where his grandpa made him live, to reflect but mainly so that he wouldn't run into Shanks. Shanks, that lying bastard, had spent months telling him about how brave and strong pirates were, and that he and his crew had lived countless adventures. But when he was faced with a petty bandit, he revealed himself to be nothing but a coward. Luffy felt stupid, stupid for believing the stories that a rag-tag bunch of drunks had spewed. His feat of superhuman strength had gone completely unnoticed by him, as his hadn't been thinking clearly at the time. Only when he was sure Shanks and his crew had departed did he finally go back into the village, but as he approached the bar to get a meal on his 'treasure tab', he heard the voice of the man who had shattered his illusion, Higumo, or Higuma… he wasn't sure.

"HA! Looks like those pirates aren't here! So got any alcohol miss?"

Not bothering to listen to Makino's polite reply, Luffy stormed in.

"You bastard!"

"Hu? Who're you, kid?"

"I'm Luffy, I'm going to be Pirate King!"

"HAHAHA"

After a while, the bandits managed to get their laughter under control as Luffy fumed in anger.

"Is that so? And what have I done to offend the great future Pirate King?"

Asked the bandit with obvious sarcasm, thought it seemed to go unnoticed by Luffy as he answered with unphased confidence.

"You disrespected my friend! And while he may be a coward, I'm not!"

"Oh? And what are you gonna do about it?"

"Luffy don't-"

"I'm gonna beat you up! Pistol punch!"

And with that Luffy punched the nearest bounty with all the strength he could muster, but with him being 7 years old, the full-grown bandit felt nothing. Thought that does not mean it didn't piss him off.

"You son of a-! Grab 'im!"

As the bandit subbed Luffy, Makino took the opportunity to slip out and get help.

 _Present_

After a few minutes of running Shanks finally saw the bandits a few meters away with Luffy tied up, but relatively unharmed, he let out a sigh of relief as he slowed down in order to make an entrance. As he calmly walked towards the bandits, Luffy shouted:

"Get out of here Shanks! There's nothing you can do!"

At those words, Shanks felt his heart sink a little, was this how far he had fallen in the boy's esteem? A few days ago, Luffy was confident Shanks could cleave a mountain in half with a toothpick, but now he didn't trust the red-haired man with freeing him from a few bandits.

"You should listen to the kid, coward."

Spoke one of the bandits as he pointed a pistol at Shanks' head. This was it, his chance of regaining Luffy's respect, and teaching the lesson he wanted to convey all along. And so, Shanks dropped his rehearsed one liner:

"Risk your life on it"

"What?"

The pistol wielding bandit deadpanned.

"With that pistol, you'll ris-"

"SHANKS!"

Shanks' reply was interpreted by Luffy's desperate yell as Darkness began to spread from him. The ropes that restrained him disappeared into his body, and the bandits that surrounded him began to slowly sink into the now darkened ground.

"Wh-What the fuck is this!"

"Holy crap what's happening!"

"Help! I'm Sinking!"

The bandits panicked as they began to disappear into what seemed to be nothingness, attacking the ground and struggling as if try to escape quicksand, all the while failing to direct a single attack towards the perpetrator. Shanks, his crew and the entire village watched as the Kidnappers were consumed into darkness, speechless even as the darkness retracted towards a freed Luffy, without leaving a trace. In moments the scene had gone from hopeless, to normal leaving some to wonder if they had imagined the whole event, the only traces of it having ever happened being the few scratches on Luffy.

"What was that?"

It was unsurprisingly Luffy who broke the silence with his question. His voice snapped shanks out of his daze and he answered:

"'That' Luffy... was the **Yami Yami no Mi** , one of the treasures of the Sea, a Devil Fruit. It was the purple fruit you ate a few days ago, you left before I could explain."

" **Yami Yami no Mi**?"

"Yes. A very strong devil fruit, it gives you complete control over darkness allowing you to absorb, attract or expulse anything… among other things. It come at a cost however, you are forever banished from the sea devil's kingdom, in other words you cannot be in contact with the Sea and by proxy Sea stone."

"How can I believe you? You're a liar!"

Again, that hurt Shanks far more than he expected but he didn't show it as he walked towards Luffy and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I have never once lied to you Luffy, and besides you saw the power of the fruit with your own eyes"

At those words Luffy hesitated but he soon shook his head as he answered:

"No! You're a liar! You said you were a pirate but you're just a coward!"

"I can see why you may think that… but I don't make it a habit of beating up weak people simply because they annoy me"

This gave Luffy pause as he pondered, but he soon discarded the idea, there was a difference between hitting weak people that annoyed you and letting yourself get pushed around.

"Excuses…"

He muttered, barley loud enough for Shanks to hear.

 _A few weeks later_

"Well I'm leaving for good..."

Said Shanks as his crew boarded supplies onto his ship. In the past few weeks he had managed to make up with Luffy and laugh with him like before. But the awe and adoration, that had once occupied the boy's eyes, were clearly no longer there, Shanks had even begun to hope Luffy would ask him to come along like before, but he didn't.

"I'm sad to see you leave Shanks"

It was true, while Luffy no longer idolized Shanks and his crew, he didn't hate them. He just saw them as people who liked to brag, exaggerate and make up stories, but in the end didn't have any bad intentions.

"Here, this is my most prized possession, you can give it back to me when you surpass me"

Spoke Shanks as he placed his straw-hat on the boy's head. But to his surprise the boy took the hat and gave it back to him.

"I've already surpassed you, Shanks. I know now that you didn't really do all those things, but your heart is in the right place and you can, no, you will do great things one day. For real this time! Take the hat and become a real great pirate, when I become Pirate King, I'll accept it as tribute!"

Shanks listen to the 7-year-old's attempt at wisdom and felt quite conflicted. On one hand, he was happy the boy had faith in him and gave him such praise. But on the other, it broke his heart that the boy didn't even see him as a real pirate. Him, Red Hair Shanks, a New World pirate, former member of the Pirate King's crew, rival to Dracule Mihawk, was being looked down on by a 7-year-old from the East Blue…But he would show him, he would become so infamous his name would echo across the seas, all the way to the East Blue's Foosha village, and then Luffy would respect him once more.

"Alright then, I'll show you exactly how great of a pirate I am. Keep an ear out for the name Red Hair Shanks, soon you'll be hearing about it a lot! Then you finally set out, and surpass all the pirates on these seas, I'll give you my most prized possession!"

"Yeah!"

And with that, Shanks donned his straw hat as he boarded his ship, looking back one last time at the boy's solitary figure as he sailed away, to the Grand Line.

 **AN: As you can see, I'm trying to power through the parts that don't diverge too much from cannon, so I can get chapters out faster. I'll try and update as regularly as I can until I hit a wall. If you feel the pace is too fast, I'm sorry, I'll try to make the non-cannon bits more detailed later.**

 **P.S: needless to say, I don't own One Piece,** **Eiichirō Oda** **does** **. Saying it changes nothing on a legal stand-point, but credit is owed where credit is due.**


	3. Chapter 2: a Fated Meeting

_10 years before canon_

At this moment, as she shook like a polish potato sack on the back of a galloping horse, Hancock really wished she could go back in time and hit herself. Sure, the plan had seemed great at the time, hide where no one will come looking, but she hadn't really thought the details through. While the East Blue may be the weakest sea, she was a 7-year-old girl armed only with what seemed to be the most useless devil fruit in history, to say she was out of her depth would be an understatement. Everything had begun to go downhill from the moment she left the Grand Line

 _A few weeks before_

The Fish-man who had noted the homes of the former slaves embarked on this ship, stood before the gathered.

"Alright is everyone here? Good! As you all know we entered the East Blue yesterday!"

At this statement, all the former slaves, except one, exploded in cheers. They were finally home, well most of them anyway.

"However! There are far too many destinations for this ship to bring you all to your home towns without spending months at sea and increasing the chances of our capture! Therefore, you will disembark at Loguetown! We have arranged transport for you aboard merchant ships heading to your home islands!"

More cheers resounded at this, it meant many would be home sooner than expected, though it made no difference to Hancock who on the contrary was uncomfortable at having to fend for herself in an unknown environment.

"We should arrive at Loguetown by noon tomorrow!"

And with a final cheer the freed slaves, returned to their activities, which for Hancock meant looking out to sea with depressed look.

 _The next day_

Once more the former slaves had gathered on the deck eagerly watching the island in the distance getting larger and larger as they closed in.

"We will be docking in a few minutes! Please follow the instructions you will be given by the crew and they will bring you to your transports! Don't forget to hide your brands and good luck!"

When the shipped finally docked, Hancock waited as Fish-men lead groups of 5 to 10 former slaves, into Loguetown presumably to take them to the third parties that would bring them home. Hancock patiently waited for someone to come get her but, as the entire deck cleared, she was left alone with two other former slaves, a man and a woman in their early thirties who seemed to be a couple. Finally, a Fish-man walked over to them.

"Goa kingdom?"

"Yes, that's us"

Spoke the man gesturing to his partner. The Fish-man then turned to Hancock expectantly.

"Oh. yeah, me too"

"Great! Then follow me"

The Fish-man then lead them off the boat. As they walked through Loguetown, Hancock was awestruck by the state of the city. Loguetown really had gone to shit these past few years, ever since the last pirate king started the golden age here, every single pirate hoping to claim one piece visited Loguetown before entering the Grand Line. The local marines were out of their depths, the island was crawling with bounty hunters and pirates whose collective bounties could probably bankrupt the marine HQ. Hancock could see people brawling in the streets, shiting on the pave walk and fucking in the alleys, after a few minutes she even noticed a few dead bodies left on the side of the road. While she definitely had no love for the World Government, she agreed that, at least, they did their job of keeping things together. She would dread a world where everything was like Loguetown. After a while, they arrived at dock which was on another side of the island, as a shady looking man approached the Fish-man turned to them.

"These merchants will take you to the Goa Kingdom capital, from there it's up to you to get home. Don't reveal you're former slaves, keep your mark hidden at all times, and goodbye"

"Thank you so much"

The couple whispered as the Fish-man left. They were now left alone with the merchant, a middle-aged man with a few missing teeth and a breath that could be classified as a chemical weapon. After leading them on the deck of what Hancock could hardly call a ship, she was on the receiving end of a war crime when the man finally spoke.

"The ship will depart in a few hours, you'll be expected to pull your weight around here, that fish isn't paying me enough for you to get a free ride. We'll reach the capital of the Goa Kingdom in 10 days. Till then you are cargo that cleans, got it?"

"Yes"

 _9 days later_

The last stretch of the voyage was tedious, she and the two others were made to work constantly, and the ship actually did look a bit better than when she initially got on it. She remembered her wonder at the fact that the piece of junk could really sail. Overall the last 9 days had been taxing, but it was nothing compared to six months as a slave to celestial dragons. Currently, Hancock was gazing out at the sea with a depressed look on her face, something that she had been doing quite often since leaving Mary Geoise. It was late, very late, so late it could be considered early, the moon was covered, and the deck was in almost complete darkness as she looked out to sea. They would be arriving in the Goa capital at around sunrise, which was now only a few hours away, if the sun was out, she was sure they would be able to see the island in the distance. As she was looking at the sea, Hancock heard the door leading down below creek open and two of the merchant's crew walk onto the deck. Because of the darkness the men couldn't see her as they got over to the opposite railing and undid thier pants to take piss overboard, Hancock did her best to pay them no mind until they began to talk.

"Hey bro?"

"Can we not talk now, man…"

"Do you agree with the captain about the cargo?"

"Dude, I really can't get flowin' if you're talkin' to me"

"I mean, I know it's good money... but are we really gonna piss off the Fish-men for just 10 000 000 Beli, those guys can lift a fuckin' house with just their arms"

"Okay fine, if it'll shut you up! Yeah, it's a bit risky but it's 10 000 000 a head, so 30 000 000 total. And besides, those guys are from the Grand Line, they ain't ever gonna find out and if they do, doya really think they'll come all the way here for 3 captured slaves? Happy? Now let me piss!"

They both left soon after, but Hancock had heard the whole thing. She was in full panic mode, she would rather throw herself in the sea then go back to being a slave, which she considered doing until she remembered that she had eaten a fucking useless fruit. After a few moments, the young girl, rushed to the row boat. The thing was rotten and rusted, it had more chances of flying her to safety than floating, but right now it was her only hope. The crane that was used to lower the row boat was rusted and crooked. However, because of that, it had been forcefully turned to starboard as to allow the boat to be lowered, which was lucky considering 7-year-old had neither the strength or the knowledge to operate the crane. Hancock hopped into the row boat and picked up the rusted pulley, before stopping. She wasn't alone, the two others, they need to be warned, she could take them with her. On one hand, it would mean she had more people to row the boat and rely on if things went to shit. On the other, it meant more chances of getting stopped and seeing the row boat she wasn't sure it would hold. But she had already lost both her sisters, maybe she could save both those two. Against her better judgement, she got off the boat and back onto the ship, heading for the cargo hold where all three of them slept, she left the doors open so they wouldn't creak on the way back. She went over to the other two former slaves and slowly shook them awake, the man silently opened his eyes while the woman snapped awake in terror but without a sound, when they realized it was her, they both looked a bit confused.

"What is it, little girl?"

"We need to get off this ship"

She whispered as low as she could.

"I overheard some of the crew saying they were going to turn us in to claim the bounty"

"A bounty?"

"Yes, I heard them say 10 000 000 Beli a head"

"It was just a nightmare girl, we're no worth 10 000 000 Beli"

"It's true! 10 000 000 Beli is pocket change to celestial dragons, you should know that"

She insisted, while she didn't know the two, she also wouldn't wish the life of a slave on anyone.

"Maybe she right?"

"Oh come on. It's nonsense, how would they even know?"

"We were with a Fish-man and the attack on Mary Geoise didn't go unreported they could have deduced, perhaps they even saw our marks"

"Stop arguing we have to go!"

"I think we should too, it's worth the risk"

"Fine! But I think this is useless"

The three of them managed to sneak to the deck without making too much of a ruckus thanks to the open doors. Once they got to the deck, they got onto the row boat, despite vehement protest from the skeptic who still refused to Believe the imminent danger. Once on the boat, the woman made to turn the pulley to lower the boat, but the rusted old thing crumbled at the first turn and the row boat came crashing down into the sea with a loud SPLASH! The row boat miraculously held up, despite a few cracks in the wood. But the sound attracted the attention of the helmsman who instantly noticed the missing row boat and rushed over to see all three escapees beginning to drift away.

"They're escaping! The cargo is escaping! Everybody wake up!"

The man's shouts quickly roused the crew from their sleep, and they all rushed to the deck. The captain stared in horror as his 30 000 000 Beli drifted away.

"Shoot them! Get the guns and shoot!"

While the ship had no canons, the crew was equipped with emergency weapons to fend off pirates. In moments, most of the crew was firing at the small embarkation.

"See! I told you!"

"Shut up girl! not now!"

Splaf! The man's widened as he looked behind Hancock, the girl turned her head and instantly regretted it. The woman had fallen to the floor, with blood leaking from a single hole in her temple.

"Sarah!"

The man yelled as he pushed past Hancock to hold the dead woman as bullets continued to fly by, their only salvation being the cover of the night that made aiming difficult for the gunmen.

"We need to get out of here! Please!"

This seemed to snap the man from his daze as he grabbed the oars and began to row madly in the opposite direction. Back on the ship the crew lost sight of the row boat but continued to shoot at the place the last saw it, regardless of the fact both they and their target had moved until their captain yelled.

"It's useless! Stop wasting ammo, we lost them! We'll turn around in the morning and see if we can find them"

The crew ground and cursed but ultimately, they did stop shooting and go back to their quarters, very disappointed at having lost 30 000 000 Beli.

 _At dawn_

The man pulled the ship ashore as Hancock contemplated the jungle before her, she had gotten out of one mess and ended up in another. Once the man had pulled the ship ashore, he carried the woman's body out and placed it against a tree before getting an oar and using it as a shovel to dig, it took a few hours, but the man managed to bury her and say a few words, as Hancock gave him some privacy. When he came back, she offered her condolences.

"I'm really sorry for your loss"

"Thanks girl. I'm sorry, I should have trusted you like she did, she was always right. Maybe if I had…"

"I don't think it would have made a difference"

"Thanks. I'm Eric by the way, you?

"Hancock"

"Well Hancock, we're in luck this is Dawn Island. It's a rather large but i know the rough layout, and I think there's a road not far from here. Where are you from?"

"I'm euh, from the capital. You?"

"Goya village, it's on the way. We can travel together, I can take you to the capital if you want."

"No thanks, we can go to your village together, but I wouldn't make you take me to the capital"

"You sure? it's only 3 days walk more for me"

"I'm sure"

"Okay then, let's go"

The main reason Hancock didn't want Eric to take her to the capital was that she didn't want to deal with explaining she didn't really live there. Eric had been right, the pair only had to walk a few hours before they found a road. It wasn't the most traveled road and it was a full hour before they ran into a wagon, they were in luck as the wagon was headed towards the capital and the driver, Earl, offered to give them a ride. Unfortunately, the wagon was old, made of wood and traveled on a rather bumpy road, leading Hancock to feel like a polish potato sack on the back of a galloping horse. As the wagon passed through the dense jungle road, Hancock was finally beginning to think maybe her luck had turned. At least until the wagon came to a abrupt stop, and dooming voice sounded.

"Surrender your valuables!"

Could this day get any worse, wondered Hancock as bandits surrounded the wagon and violently pulled down Eric at gunpoint, her only silver lining being that they hadn't noticed her yet.

"My name is Harold! The greatest bandit in the east blue!"

' _Did that idiot just give his name?'_ thought Hancock, she was sure they were dealing with small time wannabes that would ultimately let her go, when she heard two shots and saw Eric's head get blown off, the other presumably killing Earl.

"What did you guys to that for!"

"Shut up newbie! We ain't amateurs, the rule is no survivors!"

' _Oh shit, this is it, the end of the road! I don't want to die!'._ As she was about to give up all hope, Hancock heard a voice that would lead to her describing this day as the best day of her life for years to come.

" **Dark Grasp!** "

As the voice squeaked, the bandit who had shot Eric flew in a straight line towards a small boy with raven hair and a scar under his eye, but who's hand was coated in darkness.

" **Repulsion!** "

With those words the bandit abruptly changed direction and went flying into the bandit who shot Earl, their bones cracking audibly as they collided.

"Wh-what the hell"

Stammered the 3 remaining bandits as one.

" **Dark Bullet!** "

The child pointed his finger the way kid would imitate a gun, except there was now a small dark circle on the tip of his index, out of which flew out a bullet that hit a bandit square in the chest. This seemed to awake the bandits as they began shooting at the boy with terrified looks.

" **Derivation!** "

A dark circle appeared in the ground and the bullets changed direction to charge into it.

"De-Demon!"

"Shishishi **Black hole!** "

A dark circle appeared below the remaining bandits and they began sinking into the darkness. In moments it was over. The boy stood proudly, with his hands on his hips. Looking at him, Hancock felt a strange feeling bloom in the chest, like a thousand butterflies taking off. She jumped off the wagon and felt her cheeks flush as the boy saw her.

"Ah- th- th- thank y-you!"

"You're welcome!"

The boy turned away and began to leave while picking his nose with his pinky.

"Wait!"

"Hm?"

"I don't really have anywhere to go. Ca-can I come w-with you!"

' _What am I thinking! That's rude! I'm not this problem! he must hate me now!'_

"Sure!"

"Really?!"

She responded ecstatically. The feeling was so foreign to her, she had been so depressed since her sisters' deaths, she was now drowned in joy and on the verge of tears.

"Yeah, I never lie!"

"Th-Thank you! I'm Boa Hancock!"

"Nice to meet you Hamcock, I'm Monkey D. Luffy!"

' _A Nickname! Is this what they call… dating?!'_

 **AN: Phew, that took a while. Sorry for posting late, hope you like it! A few sad moments in this chap, but comedy focus in the next one so look forward to it.**


	4. Chapter 3: Cohabitation

_10 years before Canon_

Hancock followed the raven-haired boy through the forest in silence, she wanted to speak and get to know the boy, but whenever she opened her mouth only strained gasps would come out. The first few times, the boy turned his head to ask if she was alright, but she merely nodded with a flushed face every time, so the boy assumed it was just an odd quirk. The jungle they traversed was rather dense, but Luffy could effortlessly maneuver through it and assist Hancock whenever she got stuck. Noticing this Hancock deliberately got stuck more often, but stopped as soon as she saw the slightly annoyed the boy gave her when she asked for help to step over a boulder. Luffy also dealt with wild animal, groaning away boars and slapping away a few snakes. After a few hours they came near a cave, it was a bit mossy due to the humidity but aside from that it seemed rather cozy, like the dwelling of a bear. To her surprise the boy stopped and proudly gestured towards the cave.

"This is it!"

Hancock had a confused look, she had assumed the boy came from a nearby village not that he lived like a caveman in the middle of the jungle, but her thoughts weren't on how uncomfortable the cave was, instead... _'It's so romantic!',_ she could already picture the scene:

" _Hancock, due to the cold, we must cuddle."_

" _Luffy…"_

Somehow, in her fantasy, the cave was covered in roses and Luffy had dowey eyes. But much to her disappointment, darkness began to spread from the boy and cover the ground of cave. Out of the darkness emerged, a campfire, a rather large chest and single bed. Her hope perked at the sight of the single bed and her fantasy warped slightly to include a bed in the rose covered cave. But her dreams were crushed when Luffy seemed to remember something, and a second identical bed, appeared of few meters to the right of the first one. In her disappointment, Hancock noticed the absence of the boy's family, so she enquired.

"You live here alone?"

"Yep! My grandpa insists."

"Your grandpa makes you live alone in the jungle!?"

"Yeah, he's a marine, so he's away most of the time. But he says it'll make me tough, he wants me to be a marine. But I'm going to be Pirate King!"

' _How bold!'_ she thought excitedly. Before remembering her original question.

"What about your parents?"

"Well, my dad's busy protesting the government and I never met my mother."

"How sad!"

Exclaimed Hancock as she suddenly hugged Luffy, much to the boy's surprise.

"Well I never really thought about it but… I guess"

Noticing the surprised tone of the boy, Hancock realized what she had done and quickly backed away face flushed. _'What have I done! That was so embarrassing!'_ Quickly trying to find a way to change subject, Hancock remembered she had failed to address the boy's supernatural abilities.

"S-So… what's with the dark thing"

Instantly Luffy beamed with pride and placed his hand on his hips.

"It's because of a magic fruit I ate!"

"A devil fruit?"

"Oh yeah, those! I got the **Yami Yami no Mi** so I control darkness"

' _He is sooo cool!'_ she internally squeaked.

"Wow that's amazing! I ate one too, but it seems to be useless…"

"Awesome! Which one was it?!"

"I don't know, it only made me a bit prettier…"

"Hmm... Shanks told me devil fruits are never just what they seem. He was a major liar but I'm pretty sure he was right about that part. Yours probably has an amazing hidden power!"

"You really think so?"

"I said I never lie, right?"

"Thanks!"

And with that both their stomachs began gargling. While Hancock looked ashamed, Luffy grinned as he pulled out a dead tiger three times his size from his darkness.

"Hope you like meat!"

 _9 years before canon_

It had been 6 months since Hancock moved in with Luffy, she had been delighted to find out there was a village not far from their cave called Foosha village, where Luffy was much appreciated and where she was welcome with open arms. While Makino offered to let them stay with her every time they came, Luffy always refused, and therefore so did Hancock. She had also learned that Luffy was quite zealous about his 'training', and would regularly set out to find worthy opponents. Of course, Hancock came along. In the past 6 months they had taken down 13 Bandit groups, cleared out 9 tigre dens and hunted 7 bears. Well, Luffy had done most of it, but Hancock had tagged along and was growing stronger by the day, she had even domesticated a large snake that she had named 'Salome' and began to train as a 'snake weapon'.

Hancock had gone to collect food in order to cook lunch. Luffy originally did it, but after Hancock conducted her 'research', which consisted of long interviews with Makino, reading romance novels by the tonnage, and stalking couples in the village, she had incorporated a few so called 'golden rules', the first of which being 'the way to a man heart is through the stomach'. Because of this, she considered it her sacred duty to completely control all food related matters when it came to Luffy, and even acted hostile to anyone attempting to undermine it. This included Makino, who after a few attempts, completely gave up the notion of making food for Luffy, as it would mysteriously disappear or be destroyed when she had her back turned, not to mention the hateful glares from Hancock. Of course, Luffy made no protests at the hostile takeover, as Hancock had devised a strategic 'Luffy oriented' menu, consisting of meat in large quantities and as little veggies as possible, villagers could often see her carrying pieces of meat twice her size through the jungle with practiced ease, refusing any assistance which causing them to praise her dedication, if nothing else. While Hancock gathered the ingredients for 'triple roasted boar and a tomato', Luffy was playing around with his darkness powers making a coin fall continuously between two dark circles, having finished his training for the day, his thoughts turned to Hancock. In the past 6 months he had grown quite close to her, both emotionally and physically, as he noticed she was pushing her bed 1cm closer to his every night. He considered her his closest friend and was actually quite troubled by the dedication she showed him, unsure of how to respond, despite having repeatedly offered to help at least carry the food in his dark storage, she continuously shut him down. The whole situation was strange and when he had tried to show his gratitude by giving her a gift, she had flushed crimson, muttered 'en-eng-engagement' and passed out. After that, he never saw her without the rather crude necklace he had gotten her. Luffy was violently brought back from his thoughts by the long forgotten 'fist of love'.

"Owowowow!"

At the same time a few kilometers away, Hancock's head snapped upwards _'Something is wrong with Luffy!'_ She immediately dropped her prey and began running with superhuman speeds towards the cave.

"Oh come on it wasn't even that hard…"

"Gramps?!"

Exclaimed Luffy with horror.

"Yeah I'm back try and be happy you brat!"

And another fist fell on the 8-year-old.

"I'm happy! Overjoyed! Ecstatic!"

"Good! Glad you show some love towards an old man. But Luffy, I heard that while I was away some pirates came to the village, were you okay?"

"Shanks? They weren't real pirates, but they were nice, they told me about real pirates and the Pirate King."

As Luffy explained his encounter with the Red Hair pirates, Garp nodded up until the part about the fruit where he raised an eyebrow but made no comment, his fist clenched when he heard the bandits captured his grandson, but he beamed with pride when Luffy told him how he had beaten them, finally when his grandson concluded with the fact Shanks was just a liar and a coward he smiled and nodded. He had been worried some wrong ideas had gotten into the stubborn boy's head, but the story reassured him that his grandson was growing in the right direction, until...

"Oh by the way I changed my mind I don't want to be a Marine, I'm going to be pirate king!"

"WHAT!"

Garp was beyond mad, although it served to hide his sorrow, he would have to be enemies with another one of his descendants.

"I'm going to Kill that Red-Haired son of a whore!"

"Hey! That's rude!"

The squeak from his 8-year-old grandson managed to calm him down a bit.

"You're right, this is partly my fault. I shouldn't have left a 7-year-old alone without supervision…"

"Well as long as you understan-"

"From now on you'll be under the care of an old friend of mine"

"-d… Wait? No! I don't wanna!"

"You'll do as I say you shitty brat!"

Garp delivered another 'fist of love', and a loud Bonk! echoed.

"OW!"

It's wasn't Luffy who spoke out, but Garp, who now sported a considerably large bump on his head. He turned around and was rather surprised to see an extremely beautiful little girl about the age of Luffy, holding a comically large log poised to strike again.

"How dare you hurt my-! How dare you hurt Luffy! You decrepit bag of bones!"

"Who are you?"

"I'm Luffy's future w-! I'm Luffy's friend!"

While Hancock had long gotten over being embarrassed of her feelings, her 'research' indicated that men disliked women who were 'clingy', or 'moved too fast' therefore she did her best to reign in her most outward displays of affection when with Luffy, thought she had developed a 'schedule' that she considered the optimal way to proceed without scaring him off. This however did not fool the old man who immediately understood the young girl's intentions.

"Yeah this is Boa Hancock, she's my best friend"

Luffy, had eventually understood 'Hamcock' wasn't her name and began to call her Hancock, though it seemed to disappoint for Hancock, she was currently in panic mode, the 'research' had indicated the existence of the infamous 'friendzone', and she knew it was bad. She quickly calmed down when she understood that as an 8 year-old-boy, Luffy had yet to notice the opposite sex, she just needed to be there when he did, and fend off any competition.

"Hancock, this is my Grandpa"

As the implications of the revelation loomed, Hancock's eyes widened in both shock and horror.

"Oh my god! I'm so sorry!"

She repeatedly apologized while bowing again and again. She had made a terrible impression on her future grandfather in-law, and as she knew the sway the man held over her 'boyfriend' perhaps he could make Luffy not like her. ' _Oh god what have I done!'_ Luckily for her:

"HAHA! I like her, good catch Luffy! I guess she can come with you then"

"Catch?"

"THANK YOU!"

Hancock was ecstatic that her future in-law approved of her. But wait? Come with you?

"Umm? Are we going somewhere?"

"Yes! You'll-"

"No! Don't wanna!"

"Shut up!"

Garp delivered another 'fist of love', and a second loud Bonk! Echoed. Garp turn his head to the culprit who had once more picked up the comically large log.

"S-sorry, but I still won't let you hurt my-! I won't let you hurt Luffy"

Garp rubbed his second bump but laughed it off, sheesh that girl was a handful.

 _A few hours later_

Luffy and Hancock watched as Garp argued with a chubby Bandit woman named Dadan, who in the end finally resigned to letting them stay. When the woman had caved, Garp came back to them grinning madly.

"Luffy there's someone I want you to meet. Ann! Get out here!"

A solitary female figure emerged from a nearby bush, the young girl was a little older than Luffy and Hancock, perhaps by two or three years, she had the same raven hair as Luffy and held a pipe. At the sight of her, Hancock eyes instantly narrowed.

"This is Portogas D. Ann, you'll be living with her so get along"

"Yo I'm Luffy, this is Hancock!"

The girl ignored them and walked past Luffy, bumping his shoulder. Luffy was about to say how rude that was, when Hancock axe kicked her on the head.

"Don't try and steal him you harlot!"

' _She was doing the opposite…'_ the adults simultaneously thought. On the other side of the kick, Ann was pretty shocked, she considered herself rather strong, but she had hardly seen the other girl move. Luffy, however was rather confused, _'steal? Did she try to pickpocket me!?'_. Ann soon recovered and the two girls groaned at each other until they 'humpfed' and went in opposite directions, Hancock going towards Luffy and Ann going towards the house.

' _What have we gotten ourselves into'_ thought the bandits.

 _A few days later_

Dadan already regretted having caved to Garp, while Luffy and Ann were already a hand full, Hancock was a terror. The young girl would obsess about food, more specifically who made it and who ate it, she had cooked large amounts of food, and the bandits had assumed it was for everyone. But when Dogra tried to dig in, he was met with a heavy axe kick and a flurry of insults as Luffy looked on apologetically. The next day, the bandits made their own food as the girl cooked for Luffy, but when Luffy finished his meal he also ate the leftovers from the bandits, if looks could kill they would have been dead then and there. From then on, the bandits were forced to eat only after the boy had fallen asleep, and in the woods so the smell wouldn't wake him up. Another problem was Hancock's relationship with Ann, it was cold at best, downright antagonistic at worse. The two girls would fight whenever Ann, made contact with Luffy or spoke down to him, much to Luffy's dismay. And finally, were the sleeping arrangements, Hancock had actually went as far as to kick Magra out of his room and insisted Luffy sleep there with her, the poor Magra had to content himself with the couch. The Girl was really one big, gigantic headache.

Luffy was laying awake as Hancock slept on the bed that was now only 10 cm away from his. As he couldn't sleep, he looked out the window to see Ann walking into the jungle, intrigued he opened the window and followed. Sensing Luffy's absence, Hancock snapped awake and noticed the open window, she looked out to see Luffy disappear into the jungle on the heels of Ann. her heart raced as she jumped out the window and followed, not even bothering to take Salome with her.

' _Is this what they call cheating?!'_

 **AN: Hey guys I've been getting a few comments saying you are worried Luffy will end up being an immature idiot like in Canon, I would like to assure you that is not the case. While Luffy can be seen as immature and childish in these chapters, please keep in mind he is still only 7~8 years-old and without any family. The events in this pre-canon arc will form Luffy's personality into a mature, calculating and ruthless young man by the end of the 10 years. I will however keep a bit of his personality quirks for comedy purposes.**


	5. Chapter 4: Birth of a Brotherhood

_9 years before canon_

Luffy followed Ann through the Jungle, oblivious to Hancock stalking them not far behind.

The path Ann took was quite complex, using vines and knocked down trees, but to Luffy it was quite simple to follow. Hancock would normally be a bit pressed to keep up, but the fire that was fed by her love, gave her the strength to push on. After an hour or two, Ann arrived in front of a huge tree, on top of which was a treehouse. Ann looked around to make sure no one was there.

"Pss Sabo? You There?"

"Yeah!"

Answered a voice from above as a blond boy wearing a top hat appeared from the tree house.

Luffy laid hidden as he watched the scene unfold, with Hancock not far behind, eyes burning with suspicion. Ann quickly climbed the tree and hushed sounds could be heard from the tree house. Curious, Luffy climbed a nearby tree to spy on the ensuing discussion, making Hancock lose sight of him.

"It's been a while, what's up with you?"

"Sorry, it's 'cause Gramps got this kid, Luffy, and his psycho girlfriend to stay with me. That girl watches me like a hawk, I can only sneak out at night and you weren't there before, so I left the note to meet tonight"

"Wow that must be hard on you, but she's just a girl you can handle her."

"No! That girl is a monster, she has this pet snake and can lift shit twice her size"

"Sounds creepy-"

"ANN, YOU HARLOT GET DOWN HERE!"

Ann shivered at the sound, while Sabo was both horrified and enchanted by the female voice.

"HOW DARE YOU-"

Hancock's outraged rant was interrupted when two small figures ran down at breakneck speeds and tackled her to the ground covering her mouth. In moments they had the girl hogtied to nearby tree. Not noticing the blond stranger, Hancock continued to rant at the 'homewrecker' but was silenced when, Ann covered her mouth with a makeshift gag.

"Is this the psycho girlfriend you were talking about?"

"Yep, can't believe she followed me here. She normally sticks to Luffy like a shadow."

"She's actually quite pretty. From your description, I imagined a monster."

"Don't be fooled! She _is_ a monster."

"So… what do we do with her"

"She knows where our hideout is, so she needs to die"

Spoke Ann with resolve in her eyes, Sabo looked a bit conflicted but nodded none the less. They both took a step towards the now terrified girl. When they both felt himself fly backwards. Luffy was now before them with a murderous look in his eyes, clenching both their necks with hands coated in darkness.

"If you touch her, I will rip your hands off and feed them to you… Got it!"

The young boy before them looked more demon then man as he spoke these words with a heavy voice unfitting of his small stature. Both nodded furiously, too scared to speak. At this, the Darkness withdrew from Luffy's hands and the murderous look gave way to a friendly smile. He let go of the two kids, who felt too weak to stand, before heading to a tearful Hancock.

"As long as you get it, we're good."

He then untied Hancock, who dived into his embrace, while thinking _'My hero!'_ Luffy gently comforted her by stroking her back, she hadn't been in any real danger as he had watched the whole scene, wanting to see what they would do.

"W-what was that?"

"I-I don't know"

"Hey! let's be friends"

" " "What!" " "

All three of them were shocked, Sabo in particularly as he was unaware of the young boy's easy going personality. Ann and Hancock, who were already used to Luffy's antics, were still surprised by the change of mood.

"B-But we tried to kill your girlfriend"

"Yeah, but you didn't. And you got the message, right…"

That last part was said with the same murderous look as before causing Sabo to shiver and nod. Meanwhile, Hancock who was already beyond clouds from having been saved by Luffy and even hugged, flew even higher when Luffy didn't deny the comment about her being his girlfriend, she was on the verge of passing out from happiness, like the time she thought he proposed, and held on through sheer will.

"Besides, we're they only kids in this jungle so it'd be a shame if we didn't get along"

"I guess"

"Good! I'm Monkey D. Luffy, this is Boa Hancock! Euh Hancock? You 'kay?"

"Kya! I-I'm fine"

Hancock, who had been lost in one of her fantasies was suddenly brought back. As all the others gazed at her weirdly, she blushed and looked down. Sabo was entranced by the cute display, but still managed to introduce himself.

"Euh- I'm Sabo. Pleased to meet you!"

 _7 years before canon_

It had been two years, since Hancock and Luffy became friends with Ann and Sabo. While initially tense, their relationship slowly bloomed into a great friendship. Hancock was still very wary of Ann but much less than before, she longer fought her at every turn, but still gave her looks whenever she was being too friendly with Luffy. The four of them ended up moving into the treehouse where, Hancock built a separate room for her and Luffy, much to the others' dismay. The Bandits were delighted that they were now able to eat when they wanted, but their misery was transmitted to Sabo and Ann, who now had to faced Hancock's obsession with controlling Luffy's food intake. They had eventually come up with the solution of eating vegetarian so as to make sure Luffy didn't eat any of their leftovers, therefore avoiding Hancock wrath. They did of course still eat meat in secret but would burn any leftovers and bury them deep so Luffy wouldn't stumble on them. Ann, Luffy and Sabo got along very well and would 'train' together, when the two found out about Luffy's devil fruit they were originally curious, but quickly became numb to the boy's feats. There was of course the small problem of Sabo developing a crush on Hancock the first few months, but he was mercilessly shut down every time he made an attempt at getting closer to the growing beauty, and he eventually gave up, something which Luffy found himself surprisingly happy about. Hancock had been extremely irritated by Sabo's advances, afraid Luffy might get the wrong idea, but her irritation lessened considerably when it actually made Luffy a bit possessive of her. Ultimately the four of them became inseparable leading to Ann to suggest they all share a cup of alcohol and become siblings, they all thought of it as good Idea until:

"No."

"What?"

The only one to voice their protest was Hancock.

"I have nothing against the three of you becoming siblings, but I refuse to be part of it!"

"Why? Don't you like us?"

Asked Luffy on the verge of tears.

"Of course I do, but if we're siblings we can do 'those' sorts of things"

As Ann and Sabo began blushing furiously, the 10-year-old Luffy merely looked confused.

"Those sorts of things?"

"Well, you see when the two of us are older-"

"No, no, no! What are you saying! He's only 10!"

The two older children covered Hancock mouth before she could ruin their darling Luffy's innocence.

"Urg, fine! But I'm not becoming your sibling, and that's final!"

Hancock, through her 'research', was aware of the dreaded 'sibling zone'. Far worse than the 'friend zone', the 'sibling zone' meant the other party didn't even see you as a person of the opposite sex. Hancock had recently seen that Luffy was beginning to notice her in 'that' way, it was still very basic of course, but he begun to understand there were a few differences between them. And in that crucial phase, Ann had suggested they all become siblings, she was close, she could feel it, in two-three years max, she and Luffy could finally be in a real relationship, she wasn't going to let a cup of alcohol get in her way! Of course, she was all for Luffy and the other two becoming siblings, as it would finally lock Ann out. Hancock was always worried about Ann's presence, for her to have the best chances of capturing Luffy's heart, she needed to be the only woman in his life when he finally noticed the opposite sex, Ann was a nuisance to that… until now.

"Alright then, cheers"

And with that Ann, Sabo and Luffy became brothers, while Hancock stood to the side smiling evilly as if her plan for world domination was perfectly on track.

 _A few months later_

Luffy was laying on his bed, playing with his darkness powers. Over the years Hancock had slowly closed the gap between their beds until the two of them were now stuck together. Of course, Hancock made sure she never spilt over onto his bed. Despite her strong will to do so, her 'research' indicated that making intimate physical contact too early would decrease the value of it, and when time came she would be hard pressed to get him to see her as a member of the opposite sex instead of an intimate friend. Currently, while Hancock was cooking 'quadruple pheasant with a lettuce leaf', Luffy was thinking of his feelings for her. Over the past few months he had begun to see her in a different light, and he was rather confused by all of it. When he had gone to ask Sabo about the changes, the older boy had dodged the question and directed him to Ann, who also avoided answering and directed him to Dadan, who merely grumbled and told him she 'wasn't doing this a second time' and directed him to his Grandpa, who wasn't set to return for a while. As was beginning to lament his grandpa absence, he heard Ann come rushing into the treehouse.

"It's Sabo! Bluejam got Sabo!"

Bluejam was a pirate that they had previously stolen from, he was based in the grey terminal and bore quite a grudge. Recently, Sabo's parents had enlisted his help to get Sabo to return home.

"Okay, calm down. They won't harm him, he should be back at his manor by now. We can devise a plan to get him out of there under the cover of night."

Surprisingly, it was Luffy who spoke with reason, over the past two years of robbing from some dangerous people, he had begun to understand the benefits of planning. He of course still had a bit of a wild side, but it was becoming more and more tame as he grew up. Ann took a while to calm down but agreed to Luffy's suggestion.

 _Later that night_

Luffy, Ann and Hancock, walked out of the jungle and watched the Goa Kingdom capital from their vantage point, the first thing they noticed was that the grey terminal was on fire. The three of them rushed into the fire, leaving Salome behind. The reason they so selflessly went into the flames was that they saw a blond figure they assumed was Sabo. But when they arrived it turned out to be just a dead man. The trio found themselves stuck in the flames and Luffy used his Darkness powers to fray a path out of the inferno. It was especially exhausting as he had to make sure he didn't swallow up any of the panicking people in his darkness. Eventually they made it out, and Luffy collapsed from exhaustion as the sun slowly rose over the ashes. But the day wasn't over, after taking a few minutes they saw a small ship, sporting a black flag with an S on it sailing out, instantly they knew it was Sabo. Which is why they all looked on in horror as the huge ship that passed by shot him out of the water.

"SABO!"

 **AN: rather short Chap today, sorry. It was kind of close to cannon, so I powered through. Hopefully we should reach canon by the 5** **th** **or 6** **th** **chap! There'll be a surprise in the next chap so look forward to it!**


	6. Chapter 5: Revelations

**AN: Yo, so I see there was a bit of a mix up with the poll, should be fixed now. Sorry about that. You can still go vote so if you're strongly for or against Ann being in the harem then go.**

 _7 years before canon_

For a few moments, the three of them stared in disbelief at the scene, recovering only when the ship docked and a white figure wearing a glass helm disembarked followed by a small figure in chains. Ann was the first to react, running down into the city with an enraged expression. Hancock looked hatefully at the figure and only moved when Luffy followed Ann in an attempt to stop her. Once more, Salome was left behind.

After greeting the celestial dragon at the docks, the king and his court lead their guest through the city to their castle.

"I thank you once more for gifting us with your presence, saint Jalmack"

"As you should, but as a gracious guest I have brought your kingdom a gift"

"You honor us your holiness"

"Indeed I do"

Stated Jalmack while pulling the small figure walking behind him.

"This girl is in reality a dangerous criminal with a bounty of 79 000 000 beli, Nico Robin. I personally caught her on my way over and magnanimously decided to offer the spectacle of her execution to your kingdom."

While the king and the nobles doubted whether any of that was true, not one of them had the balls to call him out on it.

"The entire kingdom thanks you for your genero-"

"YOU BASTARD!"

The king's boot licking was interrupted by the angry cry of a young girl who charged at the World noble armed with a pipe. Of course she was immediately tackled by the dozens of guards gathered, but the king's perfect reception was ruined.

"Insolent piece of shit"

Spat the king as the World Noble walked over to the young girl.

"Well, you'll make for a good slave in a few years… take her to my ship-"

"LET HER GO!"

A second cry sounded as a raven haired boy jumped at the guards holding the girl. As the king fumed at the audacity of the children, the World Noble chuckled.

"Take him too, while you're at it-"

"I'LL KILL YOU, YOU SON OF A BITCH!"

A third cry sounded, as a beautiful young girl swung a pipe at the now unprotected world noble, shattering his helm and knocking him back a few steps. The King looked on in horror as the scene unfolded. The World Noble let out an agonizing yell until an attendant brought him a new helm which he immediately put on as the attacker was incapacitated. The 10 year-old Nico Robin watched slightly pleased the World Noble got what he deserved, but scared for the fate of three children. After calming down, the World Noble looked at the girl who attacked him with rage, pulling out a golden gun.

"I changed my minded, I'm going to kill you all, starting with you!"

As the nobles prepared to witness the murder of a young child, a heart wrenching final cry sounded.

Luffy had been exhausted by the fire last night and couldn't muster enough concentration to use his darkness power, but now as Hancock was about to be shot before his eyes, he felt himself be consumed by a burning desire for power, the power to save her. He was ready to give anything to save the girl and with that final though he let out one last cry. His eyes became black as night as several small dark balls appeared next to the guards holding him, Ann and Hancock down. The guards began to be sucked in by the orbs, their bodies contracting in unnatural ways as they did. Everyone present turn to the now standing boy with darkness spreading from him.

"W-what the fuck! W-what are you!"

" **God? Devil? Monster? I've been known as many things, what will you weaklings call me?** "

The darkness soon covered the entire kingdom and the citizen looked down in complete confusion at the phenomenon. The nobles, the king and Jalmack looked on at the boy in horror as he clenched his fist and the whole kingdom began to sink into the darkness. Men, women, and children be they old or young, healthy or dying, guilty or innocent, all were consumed indiscriminately by the darkness.

" **I bring forth nothing. I bless nothing. I save nothing. All I do is consumed. Everything"**

With that statement the gathered nobles and the king also began to disappear into the the darkness, leaving only the terrified World Noble and the small girl still in chains by his side, along with Hancock and Ann.

"W-what do you want?! Money?! Power?! I'll give you anything you want! Please!"

The boy slowly began to walk to the World Noble, who panicked and began to shoot at the small approaching figure. But the bullets only sank into the boy harmlessly. ' _No way! Those were sea stone bullets! That thing isn't a devil fruit!?'_

As the boy unclenched his fist, the darkness withdrew leaving the four of them standing in what appeared to be nothing more than a huge plain, surrounded by jungle in the distance. The boy then snapped his fingers and four orbs appeared around the World Noble, ripping his limbs off, leaving him nothing more than a screaming head on a torso. The boy then grinned cruelly and Jalmack began to collapse into himself, revealing a tiny dark orb that seemed to have consumed him. The boy then turned to the last three survivors, extending his hand towards them as an orb materialized. But then it stopped, the darkness in the boy's eyes began to slowly fade. And Luffy collapsed onto the ground, unconscious.

 _Back at the tree house_

Luffy who had been carried back to the treehouse by Ann and Hancock, was still unconscious. Robin who had been brought along, was left feeling weak, as the keys to the cuffs were on Jalmack, and had been forgotten by the two girls who were fawning over Luffy's wellbeing. One far more irrationally than the other. After a few hours, the boy finally woke up very confused at how he had gotten here, for a moment. Suddenly, the memories of what he had done came flooding back. The boy broke down crying as he fully understood the magnitude of the slaughter he had unleashed on the kingdom. Ann looked on unsure of how to handle the situation as Hancock hugged him and comforted the boy. Eventually, Luffy fell asleep hugging Hancock, not even noticing the newcomer.

 _The next morning_

Last night had been the best night's sleep Hancock had in years, yet she felt guilty as she felt she had taken advantage of Luffy's sorrow. The boy had continued to hug her until morning and was still hugging her now. Strengthening her resolve, Hancock decided it was finally time. She slowly shook luffy awake. Luffy woke up in far better state than yesterday, which wasn't hard to do as he had been on the verge of a nervous breakdown, pulling through only thanks to the girl that shook him awake.

"Luffy, there something you need to know"

The girl took of her top, revealing her slightly budding chest, but slowly turned around and parted her black, silky, waist-length hair to reveal a palm sized red brand on her perfect porcelain skin. She then began to explain everything, her origins, her capture, the fate of her sisters and her escape. Up until now she had never spoken about it, mainly because no one asked, which she was grateful for. She slowly turned back to Luffy expectantly, she expected many things, for him to scold her, to be angry, to be disappointed, sad, even curious. What she didn't expect was that Luffy would choose that moment to kiss her. She had fantasized about this moment countless times, yet it was still better than even her wildest dreams. Of course, in reality it was clumsy as they were both inexperienced and quite young, but neither of them really paid any attention to that. After a few moments Luffy pulled away and Hancock was about to say something but was silenced when Luffy hugged her and comforted her as she had done for him the night before.

 _Later that day_

The three of them were gathered at the table in front of the infamous Nico Robin who had just finished recounting the real reason she had a 79 000 000 Beli bounty. While Ann looked skeptic, Luffy bought her story and therefore so did Hancock, who surprisingly wasn't acting jealously towards the girl.

"Well then I guess you're one of us now!"

Said Luffy with a friendly smile that made the young girl raise an eyebrow. Luffy looked down at the cuffs and suddenly remembered something pulling out a gold key out of his darkness, he used it to unlock the girl's cuffs.

"Wait? So those people aren't dead?"

She asked inquisitively. At this Luffy changed his friendly smile to a downcast look which cause Hancock to comfort him while glaring hatefully at Robin.

"No. I can't keep things alive in there for more than a few minutes. But the entire kingdom remains inside my darkness, though It's pretty much in ruins…"

Said the boy with a much more neutral tone. It seems he was beginning to accept what he had done. It was this moment that Robin choose to voice the thing that had been bugging her for the past two days.

"You're a logia, right?"

"Nope. I ate the Yami Yami no Mi so I'm a paramecia since I can still be harmed by physical attacks"

"A common mistake. What distinguishes a paramecia from a logia isn't the immunity to physical attacks."

" " It isn't " "

Both Luffy and Hancock were surprised as they were pretty sure that was how it worked.

"No. Zoan gives the user the ability to transform into another lifeform. Paramecia gives the user abilities that allow them to act on themselves, others or the environment. Whereas logia give the user complete control over a domain of nature. Because of this logias become what they control, you control darkness, which's primary trait is to consume, to absorb, therefore you also absorb physical attacks."

"Oh, then yeah I'm a logia"

"As I feared. Do you know why logias are the most powerful devil fruits ?"

"Because they 'give the user complete control over a domain of nature'?"

Asked Ann rhetorically. Robin pinched the bridge of her nose and continued.

"When I was younger, I read this old book that had a particular theory on the origin of devil fruits, one unknown to the World Government, since they burned the only copy."

"What it is?"

They all asked expectantly. At this Robin looked a bit embarrassed.

"To be honest it's more of a legend than a theory, but from I saw… Thousands of years ago the sea devils were being hunted by the gods. The gods were on the verge of victory, but the sea devils were cunning, and they came up with a plan. They created a way to endow fruits with sea magic, at first they tested this by binding the souls of increasingly powerful creatures to the fruits which resulted in the creation of Zoans. They then built on that success to bind the souls of increasingly powerful sea demons, minor sea devils, to fruits creating the Paramecias. And finally, when the sea devils were assured success, they bonded their own souls to the fruits, creating the Logias. Because of this the sea devils could hide among humans and survive the hunt, but they found themselves trapped, unable to unbind themselves from the fruits they had designed. However, the sea devils didn't want to simply watch as their powers were used to do things they were against, so they made it so the devil fruits could also discreetly alter the user's personality to correspond to that of the original soul, and the more powerful the devil fruit, the more powerful the effect. It is of course rather minor, you would hardly notice it as something more than your own personality… at first. You see there are such things as awakened devil fruits. The causes and effects of the awakening are unclear, most of it being lost in the void century. But the fact remains that when a logia user's sea devil awakens and merges with the user, they essentially become that sea devil, and due to this the classical devil fruit limitation no longer apply causing the user to grow considerably more powerful. Because of this, an awakened logia is near invincible. Those with strong wills can become dominant of the parasite soul, which is relatively easy to do with Zoans or Paramecias, but near impossible with logia. I assumed it was gibberish, but seeing you consume sea stone bullets… I believe your sea devil have awakened."

 **AN: Cliffhangers… I hate those!**


	7. Chapter 6: Into Hiding

**AN: Sorry for the late chapter, I've been a bit swamped… and lazy. One chapter a day might have been a bit ambitious. But I'll still try and do once a week at least, don't want to be one of those authors that leave you hanging for months, praying it isn't dropped. Aside from that the polling result is out and the pro-pairings have it! So, expect an Ann/Luffy pairing eventually. Thanks for the reviews always motivates me to keep writing.**

 _7 years before canon_

"What do you mean it's awakened?"

Asked Ann with a rather panicked voice

"Well not currently, but the strong emotions created by the situation, your young age, and both your physical and mental exhaustion were probably enough to awakened it and let it take control for a short while. However, this was a taste of what will happen if you lose to it when the time comes, and it really awakens."

There was a moment of silence as the three children let the information sink in. As the implications began hitting them in waves Luffy spoke out.

"We should leave"

"W-What! Why?"

The other three asked confused, including the previously calm and collected Robin.

"The Marines will be here soon and when they see what happened to the Goa Kingdom, they'll begin to investigate. Makino and the mayor of Foosha are the only ones who know of my fruit, they probably won't say anything but... It's best we leave Dawn Island until things calm down."

"B-but where would we go?"

Asked a worried Ann. To everyone's surprise it was Robin that answered.

"I would suggest the Conomi Archipelago, it lacks a central government and will therefore makes it perfect for avoiding authorities."

"Wow you're really smart! You know a lot of things!"

Said an amazed Luffy.

"Thanks, I have an eidetic memory"

Answered a surprised Robin, she hadn't been praised in years.

"That's Super cool! Is it because of your magic fruit?"

"Devil Fruit, and no my Devil Fruit was the **Hana Hana no Mi** , it let's me do this"

And with that, an arm sprouted from Luffy's back and began to tickle him. Luffy began laughing madly with tears in his eyes begging her to stop. And for the first time in a long time, Robin smiled. Normally Hancock would be all over her, accusing her of groping her boyfriend, but Hancock's head was still mostly in the clouds from that morning and she barely noticed the outside world. After struggling to keep up with Robin's explications, she had promptly returned to her daydreaming, letting the latest addition to their gang remain oblivious to the wrath of a jealous Boa Hancock, much to Ann's disappointment.

 _A few weeks later_

The group had made it to the Conomi Archipelago without any hiccups and promptly rented a small house in a lovely little village that reminded Luffy and Hancock of Foosha village, called Cocoyasi Village. The trio easily afforded rent due to Luffy having access to the entire Goa Kingdom's treasury that remained in his darkness. He was slowly recovering from the psychological ramifications of his actions, and now slept far better a night thanks to Hancock's comforting presence. The village was peaceful allowing the trio to get to know Robin better, she was beginning to open up now that she finally felt rather safe and had people her age to interact with. Robin, had been introduced to Hancock's antics, but thanks to a briefing from Ann quickly got used to it. Unlike the villagers who still couldn't get over seeing a ten-year-old girl going out with a huge pet snake to hunt and binging home prey two to three times her size on her back, aggressively refusing assistance. Luffy and Hancock made their relationship official, which exponentially decreased the latter's jealousy towards womankind, allowing Robin to grow closer to Luffy as long as Hancock didn't see anything strange. The only thing worth mentioning was the existence of a pair of sisters called Nami and Nojiko, who's ability to cause mischief rivaled that of the Ann-Luffy-Sabo gang. The two groups had interacted a few times but after they pulled a prank on Luffy, they attracted the wrath of both Ann and Hancock. Well, much more from Hancock than Ann, but she was pissed to. And so, they had come up with an implicit non-interaction pact and avoided each other most of the time.

Today, the group was at home simply enjoying the banalities of a simple life. Robin was sitting in a corner reading a book while Ann and Luffy were training. Meanwhile in the kitchen, Hancock was cooking 'School of fish with a carrot' for lunch, well Luffy's lunch. All of them were happily living out their day until they began to hear banging on the door.

"We're the Arlong pirates! We've come to claim this village for the Fish-man race! Pay up or die!"

"Get lost!"

Shouted Hancock in supreme rage as the banging almost made her drop one of the fishes. One thing Dadan and the bandits learned quite quickly was that no matter what happened, you must never, ever, bother Hancock when she is cooking for Luffy. The Fish-man banging the door found himself flying across the street into the opposite house. The Fish-man looked up in horror as the most terrifying thing he ever saw emerged from the house he had banged on, the other Fish-men in the street unconsciously took a step back. Hancock's face was contorted in rage with her eyes radiating hate, her entire being seemed to radiate malice, and with Salome standing up behind her, she looked like a demon straight from the depths of hell. As she approached the Fish-man while holding a cooking knife and muttering 'unforgivable' over and over in a low voice, Luffy popped his head out.

"What's up?"

He asked in a curious tone of voice, not seeing Hancock's face. At this, the girl made a 180 and when she turned around her face had returned to its former beauty and now sported the most enchanting smile any of the Fish-men had ever seen, had she been a little older they felt they would have all turned to stone at the beauty of the scene.

"Nothing honey, I'm just taking out some trash"

She said in a mesmerizing voice. Luffy looked at the Fish-man before saying:

"What did he do?"

"Something I could never forgive"

She answered joyously, her facial expression not shifting one bit. At this Luffy looked a bit troubled, he knew Hancock tented to over-react over many things, but at the same time he had also heard the Fish-man bellow, this made it difficult for him to judge whether the Fish-man truly deserved the horrible fate he knew Hancock would serve. But before he could make a decision, the Fish-men parted to let a rather large saw shark Fishman walk through dragging a young woman by her red hair.

"What is going on here?"

The downed Fishman rushed to the new comer in a panicked voice.

"It's that girl captain Arlong, she's a monster!"

"Haha! That girl? A monster! You're pathetic, she's just a lowly huma-!"

"-Mother!"

Before he could finish, Arlong was interrupted by two young girls who ran to the woman on the ground. Which Luffy quickly recognized them as Nami and Nojiko.

"You little shits!"

As Arlong was about to kick the girls he felt himself be pulled towards the boy who now had his right hand coated in darkness, before he reached the boy however, he crashed into the ground a few steps before the boy. Arlong immediately jumped up and tried to skewer the boy with his nose, but he was thrown back with a single wave of the boy's hand and flew into the crowd of Fish-men who looked on in horror at the boy's display.

"Impossible! You're just a miserable human!"

"Well that's big talk coming from a fish"

"Who dare you! Fish-men are superior!"

Yelled Arlong as he ran towards the boy once more, ready to rip him apart, but before he could make it halfway to Luffy, a black orb appeared near his right leg. Suddenly his leg began to twist and turn unnaturally as it disappeared into the orb, but just as his knee was consumed, the orb snapped out of existence, leaving Arlong with a single leg and falling pathetically to the ground as Luffy approached and stepped on the Fish-man's head, forcing his face into the ground and snapping his nose.

"Are you? Tell me, who rules the seas? Fish-men, or humans?

"I-"

"That's right, humans. We're better… because while you were playing around with seaweed we have been fighting, since the dawn of our civilization, it's all we've ever done, we are warriors. It doesn't matter if you have gills, a bit more muscle or whatever else is different between us. In the end all of that is irrelevant, only one thing matters, whether you win, or you lose. No matter how much you whine about it and pick on those weaker than you, the fact will always remain you are weaker. If you want to change that, get up and fight. Come on do it!"

Arlong tried to stand up, but the ten-year-old felt like a mountain.

"That's right, you can't. Because you're weak and there is nothing, I hate more than the weak who act strong"

And with that Arlong's body disappeared into darkness.

"Anyone else want to act tough?"

In moments all the Fishmen had run away and jumped into the sea, leaving behind a stunned village and one enamored orange haired young girl.

 _A few months later_

It had been a full 4 months since Arlong's attempt at conquest. Life in Cocoyasi had quickly returned to normal, well as close to normal as it could get. The villagers now viewed Luffy as the fusion between a god and a monster, they both feared and revered him, but mostly treated him the same as before, save for his landlord refusing to take rent and people asking his opinion in every major decision, which greatly annoyed the 11-year-old. Another major change was that Nami, had forsaken the previous non-interaction pact and now tried to spend as much time with the group as possible, dragging Nojiko with her. Originally, she came knocking to offer a pie she baked to Luffy, as thanks for saving her mother. A big mistake, Hancock had nearly gone crazy and Luffy went to great lengths to calm her down, yet when he tried to politely deny the pie, he was meet with teary eyes from Nami. Caught between a rock and a hard place, Luffy began to panic, and when Luffy panicked… he ate. Nami looked on happily as Luffy ate the entire pie in a single bite, causing Hancock to glare at Nami, until Luffy kissed her, which calmed her down but lead to Nami glaring at Hancock who now had a dreamy smile. From that moment on the two became rivals, they would compete for everything, including cooking which caused Hancock's monopoly to be threatened by the new comer. Like Makino before her, Nami began to find her cooking burnt or destroyed, however unlike Makino she responded in kind, and Hancock also found her cooking burnt or destroyed. This could have lasted forever but Luffy threatened fix his own meals, which forced the two girls into an unwilling alliance. Over time the two began to respect each other and recognize their mutual dedication, slowly the conflict died down. And while the rivalry was never truly gone, the two formed a special bond and could be said to have become friends, in some strange headache-inducing way. As this was going on Robin and Luffy continued to grow closer and the former would often tell the latter stories which she had read long ago, which Luffy would listen to with awe. As the time passed, Robin slowly began to feel a bit different when with Luffy, she would feel more comfortable, at-ease, safe and much to her shock, happy. Ann seeing her brother surrounded by outsiders, began to feel left out and saw it all as a giant plot to steal Luffy from her, and so she began to spend more and more time training with him, they would often spar and while he didn't use his devil fruit, he was still good enough to stand against her. Life in Cocoyasi was good, but like all things, it eventually ended.

"Luffy! The News Coo mentioned it!"

Said Ann excitedly as she ran into the house. Of course, 'it' was the disappearance overnight of the Goa Kingdom. In the past months, it hadn't been mentioned once in the papers, presumably because it was being hushed up until they could figure out what caused it or at least come up with an excuse, so as to not cause panic. And today, finally, the headline read 'Rebel Army destroys entire Kingdom'. It seems they had decided to blame the Rebel army as Dragon's personal ship had been spotted in the area at the time of the incident. It was time to go home, Luffy fear what Garp would do when he finally showed up, the man must have been worried sick.

"Well I guess it's time to go!"

At this, a plate was heard dropping as Nami, looked on empty eyed.

"No! Please stay or take me with you!"

"I can't do that, your family is here and I'm going to become Pirate King, it's going to be dangerous and you're not strong"

"I can train, you'll see I'll be a really good fighter, plus I'm a great Navigator!"

Surprisingly it was Hancock that came to her defense.

"I think she should come-"

"Thank you, Hancock!"

Said Nami joyfully, and a bit surprised her rival stood up for her.

"-But not now, she should stay with her family to train and we can come get her when we set out."

Nami looked like Hancock had stabbed her in the back but brightened up when Luffy said.

"OK then it's settled, Nami will be our Navigator when we set out!"

"What about me?"

At this everyone turned to the raven-haired bookworm by the name of Robin.

"Of course, you're already on the crew! You're our Intelligence Expert!"

Everyone was pretty sure he had made up the position, but they all agreed it suited her. They were all oblivious to the fact that beyond the girls' normal friendly smile, her entire being was jumping up in joy, much to her surprise. She had never really felt like she fit in anywhere, even in Ohara, she always felt like the odd one out, but now she felt like her place in the world was by Luffy's side, and for him to recognize that meant far more to her than words could ever convey.

"Ann is of course my first mate!"

"No! I'm gonna be my own captain!"

"Huuu? You're not gonna be on my crew?"

Asked Luffy with teary eyes. While Ann really wanted to be with Luffy, she needed to make it by herself, to prove to the world that she was more than just ' _his_ ' daughter. The thought of leaving the boy behind made her sad but she reminded herself it wouldn't be for another several years.

As the group boarded, Hancock remained behind. She held out her hand to Nami.

"Consider this a test, if you maintain your resolve when we come back to get you… I will… acknowledge your feelings."

Nami looked dumbstruck.

"A-Are you saying?"

Hancock nodded.

"I wonder if you'll remain headstrong?"

Nami took Hancock's hand with renewed strength in her eyes.

"I'll show you! … take care of him."

"I will!"

Said Hancock determinedly, before boarding the passenger ship.

"What was that?"

Asked Luffy curiously.

"A promise between kindred souls"

She answered mysteriously.

 **AN: Bit of cheesy ending, I know but what can you do… On the bright side we'll be reaching canon in the next chapter so yay.** **In other news, a bit of self-advertising, I've wrote this novel on Fiction Press called Rise of the Banished Warrior, it's a full-on fiction and is loosely similar to Game of Thrones, so check it out if you have the time (means a lot).**


	8. Chapter 7: Return and Departure

**AN: Sorry for late release.**

 _6 years before Canon_

Vice-Admiral Garp was a mess, as soon as he heard what happened to the Goa Kingdom, he rushed back to Dawn Island and immediately went to Dadan who told him they hadn't seen Ann or Luffy since the incident, he went down to Foosha who also said the same thing. After spending a month scouring the island for any trace of his grandchildren, all he found was their empty tree house. After that he resigned himself to the harsh truth, they had probably disappeared along with the kingdom. With that realization Grap sank into depression and took leave from the Marines, he remained on Dawn Island slowly drowning himself in his sorrow. After a few weeks the investigation revealed Dragon's ship had been close by, leading them to assume the Rebels had tested a new weapon. But Garp refused to believe it, he hadn't had contact with his son in years, never telling Dragon where he kept Luffy, at his own request. But he always felt deep down Dragon knew where Luffy was, and that he would never try to hurt him. And so he urged them to continue to investigate, for months. Until Sengoku finally came over. At first Garp stayed true in his denial, but as his friend confronted him with the facts, he could lie to himself no longer. In that moment of weakness, he accepted the promotion to admiral on the one condition he would never answer a Celestial Dragon's call. After announcing the disappearance of the Goa Kingdom Sengoku joyfully returned to Marineford leaving Garp behind to make peace with the loss of his grandchildren. Until:

"Gramps ! You're here- OWWW!"

The heavy fist was followed by the now customary Bonk! from Hancock's retaliation. Ignoring the hit from Hancock, Garp picked Luffy up and began to cry. It took him a while to calm down and once all was explained.

"So it was you…"

Luffy looked downcast and Hancock comforted him while looking at Garp accusingly.

"I'm sorry gramps, it was an accident…"

"I'm not blaming you, but you shouldn't have left without telling anyone. I thought you were dead…"

"We're sorry gramps, we should have left you a message"

Said Ann, with a regretful look.

"It's ok. But this whole event confronted me with reality. When I thought you were dead, I blamed myself, I thought I didn't make you strong enough. And I still do."

"What?! No! I'm stron-! OW!"

Shouted Luffy, as Garp's fist was, again, followed by a Bonk! sound from Hancock's log hitting his head.

"Shut up! I still have a month's leave and I'll ask for some more, I'm going to teach you Rokushiki whether you like it or not!"

"No! I don't wanna learn Rokosushi! OW!"

After Hancock gave her ritualistic hit in response to Garp's fist of love, he explained.

"Not Rokosushi you dimwit-"

Another loud Bonk! resounded.

"OW! What was that one for?"

"Don't call him a dimwit!"

"Sure, whatever. Anyway, it's Rokushiki! A form of martial arts performed by elite Marines and you're gonna learn it!"

 _3 years before Canon_

While the four of them had yet to master Rokushiki, they made considerable progress, especially Hancock and Robin, who were very diligent and insightful in their training. Garp had left after teaching them the basics and gave them exercises to perform in order to further improve their proficiency. Garp had returned to the Marine HQ reluctantly to take up the post of admiral he now deeply regretted agreeing to, but it was too late to change his mind and retiring wasn't an option to him, due to his promotion the far younger Kuzan had been passed over and remained as a Vice-Admiral despite his great strength. Because of his new post, Garp visited far less often much to his disappointment. However, it allowed Ann to finally set sail on her 17th birthday. Ann had always wanted to leave and make a name for herself, to out shadow her father. However, as he was about to board her ship she hesitated. There was one thing holding her back, Luffy. After Sabo's death, she had become very protective of him, though not quite at the level of Hancock, and it pained her deeply to leave him. But there was one thing that made her leave. As Luffy grew her brotherly feelings had begun to morph, into something she wouldn't allow, Luffy saw her as sister and that was what she would be. She refused to let those feelings grow, and so she chose to leave. She said her goodbyes the night before and told Luffy of her parentage, which unsurprisingly had little effect on him than slight, and left early in the morning for Foosha Village where she had a small ship. Her hesitation was momentary, but she crushed it ruthlessly and set sail. While she told herself, this was to make a name for herself and step out of her father's shadow, the truth was that she was running away, and deep down she knew it.

 _1 day before Canon_

As the sun rose, so did Luffy. As had become usual, Hancock slept beside him clinging to his arm. The old system of having dual single beds had been dropped in favor of a large double bed previously belonging to Goa Kingdom nobles that Luffy had taken out of his darkness. Luffy was now 17 years old and had grown considerably, he was now 1.85m tall and far more mature features. Robin had also grown and was now a beautiful young woman with a large chest and long raven hair. It was however Hancock who had changed the most, she had grow exponentially more beautiful, she had perfect proportions, silky waist length black hair, long legs and a face that defined beauty, if someone had claimed she was sculpted by the gods no one would have questioned it. Her devil fruit powers had finally showed, and it was revealed she had in fact eaten the **Mero Mero no Mi**. The circumstances in which it was discovered were quite funny, while exterminating bandits Luffy had praised her proficiency in Rokushiki. The praise had caused the beauty to smile radiantly, which made all remaining bandits instantly turn to stone. While shocking at first, Robin explained the effects of the fruits, the user could turn those that were sexually attracted to her to stone and bend them to their will. This explained why the fruit never manifested itself when she was only a child as few were those attracted to 7-year-olds. Her relationship with Luffy continued to go perfectly, and many of the bandits had asked how they maintained such a strong relationship. While Luffy looked puzzled, as he assumed all relationships were as smooth as his, Hancock was aware through her 'research' of the pitfalls of romance and had taken steps to avoid them, at all cost. However, while their relationship was night perfect, the two of them hadn't done 'that', as Hancock called it. The reason: Luffy, he wanted their first time to be special. And while Hancock wanted nothing more than to jump him, her 'research' taught her not to initiate such things as it would wound a man's pride, therefore never bringing it up. She did however slowly begin to sleep in more and more revealing clothes, and with her features that would drive any man insane. Luffy, who remained hellbent on his wish, was having a hard time keeping it up, or rather down. Despite all that, Robin and Luffy had become inseparable, while not the same partnership in crime he had with Sabo and Ann, she found a sense of peace when by his side and would rarely leave it, in turn Luffy got used to having her around and would feel something missing if she wasn't with him. As he walked out of his room Robin was already up reading a book on the sofa. He sat down next to her and she shifted so her head rested on his lap. As he did Hancock emerged from their room changed into slightly less revealing clothes yet looking as beautiful as ever without even having to try, and began to cook breakfast for her beloved.

"So we're setting out tomorrow?"

Asked Robin, more as a self-reflection than anything else.

"Yep! today is my birthday. Oh! Can you make a cake for dinner babe?"

"Of course~"

Replied Hancock from the kitchen.

"We need to got say goodbye to everyone, there'll be lunch at Dadan's. Well, with Hancock bringing your food"

They both chuckled while Hancock remained oblivious, focused on her cooking as Salome slithered around her.

"Yeah it's gonna be a long day"

That night after returning from a long day of goodbyes, they finished dinner and Hancock even allowed Robin to eat some of the cake she had made for Luffy. When they finally went to bed, Hancock changed into her revealing clothes and jumped into the bed. Luffy however, remained by the door pensively.

"What's wrong?"

"Well you know beautiful, this is my birthday and our last day before we become pirates. Sounds like a special occasion if there ever was one."

"You mean-!"

"Yep! Come 'ere"

As Luffy was about to pounce Hancock raised a hand.

"Wait."

Looking a bit confused, Luffy froze. Hancock jumped off the bed and ran out of the room. As Luffy began wondering if something had done wrong, Hancock came back dragging a very confused Robin behind her.

"Uhm… what's this about?"

Asked Robin.

"I'm not blind, I can see you love Luffy-"

"-what! Wait no! I wouldn't get between the two of you."

"Let me finish. And the reason I say nothing is because he likes you too"

"Hey! I love _you,_ beautiful."

"I love you more~ Wait! That's not the point! What I mean to say is, I'm okay with it."

""huuuuh""

They both looked on, blushing furiously and confused.

"When I was younger, I was very jealous of other girls. I was scared that they'd steal you away, but now I know that can't happen. So knowing that, why keep you to myself when I can make you happier by letting you be with women you like."

She said as if stating fact.

"You sure about this?"

"Of course~ Besides, Robin is my friend too so I want her to be happy too. I just have a few conditions."

This was rather surprising as Hancock never once asked anything of Luffy.

"Go on…"

"One, I need to approve the women you chose, I don't want you to be tricked into a one-night stand. Second this only works with women you really like, not just some girl you find cute. And last, but not least, there can never be any you love more than me~"

While the last one was said playfully, Luffy knew it was the most important thing to her. After all these years with her he knew that there was nothing Hancock wanted more than for him to love her and be happy. Robin listened to the conditions and found herself accepting of every one of them, she was content to be by Luffy's side, whether or not he felt more strongly about someone else meant little to her.

"I don't think I could ever love someone more than you, beautiful."

Those sincere words melted away any inkling of doubt in Hancock.

 **Lemon Start**

"Well then, let's get back to where we were!"

She said as she seductively moved towards her beloved, who immediately smashed his lips against hers and led her towards the bed. The moment her delicate hands had wrapped around his length the boy's eyes had lit up, and a slight gasp escaped his mouth.

"Does that feel good?"

she whispered, slowly stroking up and down his shaft, causing him to shift forward. She was silenced by his mouth, his tongue sliding into her mouth with practiced ease. Her hand was still wrapped around his erection, still stroking when he pulled back a inch, before lowering and finding her throat. It was her turn to gasp this time as electricity surged through her body.

"Oh Gods..."

Removing her hand from his pants she simply began ripping his top off herself. The remainder of their clothing vanished a moment later. She couldn't help but stare just a little at what she had previously been stroking, both of her hands went to his length guiding the tip until it was rubbing against her most intimate part. Leaning up, she whispered into his ear sensually, and tilted forward just a tad more, licking his ear with the tip of her tongue. She slid him forward so that the first inch was inside.

"B-big..."

Another moment or two of agonizing stillness followed as the beauty continued taking deep breaths. Her face shot forward, capturing his lips as he thrust in, and she fell backwards onto the bed, her back arching as her barrier was broken. He pulled back, almost completely removing himself, before slowly sliding back in, grunting in pleasure. Hancock merely whimpered, her body quickly approaching a release, she came. Luffy continued roughly, moving his hands to her hips for better leverage. He leaned in, giving her throat a slow lick as he thrust completely into her, coloring her insides. He fell forward onto her, while her own legs slowly wrapped around the back of his. For a minute the room was no longer filled with the sound of flesh slapping against flesh, instead it was just two lovers, gasping for breath while a 3rd party watched faced flushed and soak underwear.

"I guess it's her turn now."

Bemoaned Hancock, kissing Luffy and rolling over to a side of the bed. And so Luffy proceeded to deflower Robin as well that night. After a few hours, all three were exhausted and Luffy fell asleep with two beauties by his side.

 **Lemon end**

The next morning all three of them were quite sore, but compared to their previous training with Garp, it was nothing. They set sail as planned in a medium sized fishing boat Luffy had purchased. And thus, began the great journey, of the Darkness Pirates.

 **AN: And so, we have reached Canon! The lemon is heavily inspired by some scenes in the Harry Potter Fanfic** _ **Lord of Darkness**_ **by** **AngelSlayer135** **, which I strongly recommend you check out, be it for the plot or the lemons it's pure gold!**


	9. Chapter 8: The Journey Begins

**AN: First Canon Chapter. Going back, I feel the quality has gone down so I might go back and do some editing. What do you guys think? Please rate and Review!**

It was mid-day, the sea was calm and empty, save for a single boat manned by a handsome young man and two breathtaking, raven haired beauties. The trio had been sailing smoothly for the past few days, ever since they left Dawn Island. However, the fishing boat Luffy had purchased in one of the villages was only about 5 meters long with a single sail and therefore was rather small for the three of them. After the first night they agreed to get a real ship as soon as they could. They had initially thought about using the celestial dragon's ship, but regardless of the fact it was very recognizable, it was simply too massive. The ship spanned for at least a 100m, easily displacing 10 000 tonnes of water, and needed to be crewed by at the very least 80 people.

Luffy was laying his head on Hancock's lap, napping. Robin was manning the helm, as she had read a few books on navigation, and was maintaining a course towards Loguetown where they would look for a crew and a proper ship. Meanwhile Hancock was lovingly playing with Luffy's hair as Salome was coiled around the mast acting like a periscope. All was right in the world until Salome began to rattle her tail attracting their attention to the horizon. In the distance, they could see a rich looking passenger ship being attacked by a rather large, but horrendously pink, pirate ship. After waking their captain for orders, they trio headed for the two ships.

Luffy immediately jumped aboard using Rokushiki soon followed by Hancock and Robin. The battle was already pretty much over and the passengers were tied up on deck, while a huge woman was bullying a pink haired kid into complimenting her. As soon as the trio landed on deck, all eyes were drawn to them. The minute they laid eyes on Hancock's beautiful figure, most pirated were turned to stone without her even trying, the few that remained were speedily knocked out by the arms that had sprouted out of them. Luffy grinned devilishly as he spoke.

"So, where's the gold?"

While Luffy had about a billion beli in his darkness taken from the Goa kingdom and the World Noble's Ship, he was a pirate and therefore could never have enough treasure.

However, instead of fear and resignation, the young man was met with an angry glare from the fat woman who was looking hatefully at his beautiful crewmates. Before he could speak again however, the woman charged at him like an enraged bull, wielding a huge iron mace. Breathing out in annoyance, Luffy held out his hand coated in darkness, the fat woman was sent flying outwards and got knocked unconscious by the impact of her fall. Luffy's darkness swallowed the treasure that the pirates had conveniently piled up on the deck of their own ship.

As the trio was about to depart, a sweet feminine voice called out.

"Luffy?"

The curious young man turned around just in time to see a flash of orange as a missile collided into him, knocking the breath out of him.

"N-Nami?!"

Looking down he saw a beautiful 17-year-old with shoulder-length orange hair, a narrow waist and shapely breasts. At the mention of her name, Nami looked up and smiled lovingly at the young man.

"You remembered!"

"What are you doing here?"

Nami blushed as she released him and looked down.

"Well- um... I-I wanted to surprise you… so I… I bought a Ship!"

"Huuuh!"

The trio deadpanned. The girl looked a bit embarrassed.

"I studied navigation a lot, so I could be useful! And I order a custom ship, perfect for navigating the Grand Line. I-I told the ship builder that I would pay him monthly until he was finished… So, I've been stealing from pirates for a few years to pay… But I'm still short 20 million for the last payment…He said he was finished last week and that I needed to come pick it up!"

She said as she began to tear up.

"I'm sorry! _snif!_ "

"20 million! How much did it cost?!"

Asked a shocked Robin.

"O-one hundred million…"

"One hundred million! Is it made of fucking gold!?"

One hundred million beli was a lot of money, you could buy at least three ships with that much money.

"I-It's a really good ship! You'll see! I-I just hoped I could have gotten the money in time to surprise you…"

Luffy sighed and placed a hand on her shoulder to comfort her.

"It's fine… I'll pay the missing 20 million."

"I'm sorry…"

"I told you it's fine"

As they were about to leave again with Nami in tow an annoyingly squeaky voice sounded out.

"Wait! Take me with you! If I stay, I'll be arrested even though I'm innocent!"

Shrugging, Luffy allowed the pink haired snot ball to tag along.

 _Somewhere in the East Blue_

The five of them were very cramped inside the small boat and it didn't help that Hancock and Nami were both vying for the position of Luffy's lap pillow. Despite that the boat continued to sail smoothly as they began sailing to the closest Island to drop off the pink haired kid, who was called Coby, and try to recruit the famed 'pirate hunter'.

"So, you wanna be a Marine huh?"

"Yes sir! My dream is to be an admiral!"

"Why would anyone ever want to be part of such a useless and corrupt organization…"

"They're not-"

"Really? Than tell me, why are you with us? Because the Marine are dutiful servants of justice? Or because they would execute you the minute they knew you were a pirate, regardless of the fact you were one against your will?"

"I-"

"Yeah, the marines are just the largest pirate crew in the world. They force you to pay for their protection and if you disagree, they kill you or lock you up. That's all they are."

"You're wrong! They protect people!"

"Do they? Did they protect you?"

"They hunt evil pirates!"

"They hunt _competition_. They don't care if you're evil, if you refuse to bow down, they hunt you."

"You're lying!"

 _Slap!_

"Ouch!"

Coby looked tearfully at the glaring Hancock who had slapped him.

"Don't call him a liar!"

"Hey, it's ok beautiful."

Said Luffy as he stroked Hancock's hair calming her down, a radiant smile bloomed on her face as she snuggled lovingly to his hand like a kitten. Coby felt entranced by the scene and almost turned to stone, holding on only thanks to his strong will power.

Meanwhile Nami looked on jealously. Bellemere and Nojiko had assumed the Nami's feelings would die down and fade away after a few months, but instead the young maiden's love intensified through her longing. More than once Bellmere had found Nami trying to run away and find Luffy, it had gone out of hand when she actually made it to the next island. From there Bellemere had tried a different approach, she convinced Nami to train and practice so Luffy would be surprised and impressed when he saw her again. It had worked a little too well and the young girl had gone and ordered a custom first-class ship from the best shipwright in the East Blue. In truth, Nami was simply scared Luffy would forget about her. So when she heard Luffy say her name, she had been overjoyed. While she remembered Hancock's parting words, seeing her and Luffy so happy together, she wasn't sure Hancock hadn't changed he mind.

 _Near Shells Town_

The boat soon arrived at the island fortress of Shells Town, base of the 153rd Marine branch. The group got of their boat and began to ask around for the famous 'pirate hunter', they soon learnt the 'pirate hunter' had been arrested and was being held at the base. Leaving the others behind, Luffy went over to the base. Faced with a rather high perimeter wall, Luffy easily jumped over it. He found himself in an empty yard, save for a beautiful raven-haired woman, tied to a post.

Kunia had spent the past few weeks tied to that fucking pole, starving and drinking rain water. As she was thinking of her childhood friend Zoro, she heard footsteps. Assuming it was that kid that had returned, she looked up to tell her to leave. But instead of a young girl, she was met with a handsome raven-haired young man wearing black shorts, sandals, a red shirt and a black captain's coat. He looked down on her and spoke calmly.

"Why do you stay here?"

"... because I'm tied up you idiot!"

She answered rather annoyed at such a stupid question.

"I can see that, but I know a strong person when I see one. Those ropes won't hold you. So why do you stay there like an idiot?"

A bit taken aback by the young man's statement, she grinned and began explaining how the Marine captain's son had challenged her to a month tied up under the scorching sun without food or water, and that he had threatened the citizens if she refused.

He laughed.

"And you believed him? He was just in town bragging that he was going to kill you anyway."

Kunia was a bit taken of guard but hardly surprised at a Marine going back on his word.

"I take it you come with a solution?"

The young man grinned.

"Of course. From the minute you leave, you'll be wanted by the world government. So might as well join my crew. I'll be setting out for the Grand Line soon, I could use someone of your… caliber."

The young man's words were like the devil's temptation. Yet she merely laughed.

"I don't really have a choice anyway. However, there is a promise I must fulfill and if you get in the way… I'll cut you."

She said threateningly.

"Oh? A fiancé back home?"

The young man teased. Kunia blushed and yelled back.

"Of course not! I promised a _friend_ that I would become the greatest swordsman in the world!"

She insisted on the word friend, as if it was offending to suggest anything more.

"Well that's good, as a future Pirate King it would be a stain on my honor if you were anything less. Nami!"

An orange haired girl appeared from seemingly nowhere carrying two dozen swords which she dropped on the floor.

"I took the liberty of stealing back your sword, though not knowing which one it was I took them all"

Kunia easily tore herself free and picked up one of the swords with a with scabbard, just in time to see marines running towards them.

"Thief!"

"Get back here!"

"I didn't get your name. I'm Kunia by the way."

"Monkey D. Luffy"

And with that she became a blur and suddenly all the marines were cut in half at the waist. A few more marines ran at her from the side but Luffy suddenly materialized and all of them were sliced by a single kick.

"What the hell was that!"

The two girls exclaimed.

"Rokushiki. I'll teach you later. Let's get outta-"

"Halt!"

They were interrupted by a large man with an axe for a hand followed by two dozen marines and a blond guy with a face that looked like an ass.

"I'm the great captain Morgan, the stronges- urgh!"

Before he could finish 3 bullets were lodged in his chest, fired from Luffy's finger where a small dark circle had appeared.

"Let's go, Hancock's gonna be mad at you if her cooking gets cold."

 _Why at us!_ They both internally deadpanned. Though Nami knew he was right, Hancock would never be mad at Luffy and unfortunately, they were the next best thing…

 _At the restaurant_

The cooks were a little confused by the breathtakingly beautiful woman who had barged in and began to cook using their stoves, throwing them a few bills every time they raised their voice.

At a table in the corner, Luffy was eating like he had been starved for weeks, while Kunia who had actually been the one starved for weeks, was eating calmly after introducing herself to the others. Robin had pulled her aside and briefed her on the dos and don'ts of Boa Hancock, putting an emphasis on never disturbing her while she cooks and never eating food meant for Luffy.

The group and their newest member were getting to know each other when a few Marines barged in. They thanked him for dealing with Morgan but as he was a pirate, they asked him to leave, magnanimously promising to overlook the incident if he didn't make a fuss. Luffy simply laughed.

"You know if you had waited a few hours, I would've left without you telling me. But now… I can't just give my crew the impression I bow down to a weak bunch of marines, can I now?"

He got up and walked past the marines, his group following him. The marines rushed after him. As soon as he was outside, Luffy contemplated the Marine base.

"Let this be a lesson you arrogant fools…"

Luffy murmured as he extended out his hand out towards the base and it slowly began to sink into darkness. In moments, the base was gone. Luffy turned to the Marines and pushed Coby towards them.

"This guy wants to join you idiots, I suggest you take him…"

He said threateningly. The Marines violently nodded.

"Good, bring him to the Marine HQ. Tell Admiral Garp, Monkey D. Luffy sent him."

Too terrified to make a connection between the young man before them and the most famous

Marine Admiral, the marines only nodded faster.

Luffy smiled and headed to one of the Marine patrol ships. It wasn't huge, but it was better than their previous boat. The ship was about 10 meters long with a single sail, it had a canon at the prow, a cabin and even a hold below deck. The group boarded and they began plotting a course towards Ricco Island, where the best ship builder in the East Blue resided, to pick up their ship. They planned two stops for supplies, one at Orange town, the second at Gecko Island. And with that, they were off.

 **AN: Just to let you know, this story will be on pause for a few weeks while I'm on holiday. But I'm thinking of a Harry Potter Fanfic so I might post that in my free time. Not sure. Please Rate & Review**


	10. Chapter 9: The Clown

"Land!" Shouted Kuina from the prow of the ship.

"Orange town?"

"Ye-"

"Of course, it's Orange town! Are you doubting me, snake woman?!"

In the past two weeks, the 'honeymoon phase' of Hancock and Nami's reunion had run its course and the two had gone back to their old bickering ways. While Robin and Luffy knew of, and were somewhat used to, the great rivalry between the two girls, Kuina had been shocked to see the amount of pettiness the pair was capable of.

The tensions started up again when Nami had overheard Luffy and Hancock going at it in his cabin. It hadn't helped that Hancock hadn't being exactly modest about it, flashing a victorious grin at the orange haired girl when she realized she heard them.

Luckily, Luffy stepped in between the growling beauties to calm them both down.

"Okay! Okay! Look, just stay quiet for a few minutes until we get to Orange town. Then you can vent to your heart's content."

The duo hmphed at each other before turning away, refusing to acknowledge the other while begrudgingly following Luffy's order.

They soon came into view of a large, brightly colored pirate ship seemingly blockading the village. Ignoring it, they continued towards the island at a steady speed.

 _On the Big Top_

"Captain! Captain! There's Marine patrol ship approaching!"

The captain in question was known as Buggy the clown, one of the most wanted pirates in the East Blue. Unlike what you would expect, he was a complex individual. Those who had only heard of him thought him to be some kind of a terrifying fearless tyrant. Those who did know him often described him as both a fool and coward. But in reality, he was neither.

Buggy the clown was extremely cunning, for out of the 357 people who had once served on the former pirate king's ship he was one of the only 6 known to still be alive. An impressive feat considering he was by far one of the weakest Roger Pirates, or so most people believed.

How the former cabin boy had survived was simple: he had laid low. Most pirates were show-offs they couldn't help themselves from bragging or standing out. Marines only had to follow rumors to locate a former Roger Pirate and, in most cases, they would find one at the end of the line. So, by moving to the east blue and keeping quiet, no one would ever have suspected he was once in the big leagues.

However, out of caution, he stayed away from Marines and chose to attack this village in particular because it was away from most marine bases.

Which was why he was wary of this small patrol ship so far from where it was supposed to be.

"What are they doing so flashily far from their base?" He inquired.

Having taken on the Clown persona as a way to hide his big red nose and prevent him from being recognized, Buggy took to using a particular speech pattern to add on to the Clown image.

"Lost maybe?"

"Whatever it is, blow them flashily out of the water!"

"Aye Captain!"

Buggy watched as his crew loaded the canon with a Buggy ball and fired at the approaching ship. Looking at the ball looming on its target, Buggy awaited the explosion. Only to be surprised when the ball suddenly disappeared into a dark circle.

The moment he witnessed the sight, Buggy paled as the figure of a tall devilish man coated in darkness came to mind. He remembered the encounter he had years ago that almost led to the destruction of the Pirate King. Visions of the Royal Pirate Navy sinking into nothing flashed before him once more. How dark orbs had distorted people's bodies into a mass of blood and bones. How for the first and only time, he had wished Shanks had been there with him. The overwhelming fear and helplessness he had felt back then washed over him once more.

"We can't win…" he murmured.

"Captain?"

"Raise the white flag! Quickly!" he shouted to his crew's confusion.

Seeing none of them move he rushed to the main mast, pushing those in his way. Using his devil fruit, he desperately raised the white flag. _Faster, faster, god please don't kill me._

At the time it had taken the combined power of everyone of Roger's officers to take down the monster. Even then most didn't make it out alive. That _thing_ had made Whitebeard and Shiki the Golden Lion look like children puffing their chests. He had personally seen the Quartermaster give his life to allow Gol. D Roger to drive a haki imbued sword through the horror's heart and toss it into the ocean.

And now the devil of darkness had returned.

 _On the Marine ship._

"They're surrendering!"

"That was fast…"

"Should we board? Could be a trap."

"Do it. Maybe we need supplies anyway"

He had noticed the destroyed town but didn't really care, he was a pirate not some hero. But they still needed supplies to make it to the next island.

When the group got onto the Pirate ship, they were surprised to find equally confused pirates and one trembling clown looking between them anxiously as if searching for someone.

"Give us your food."

"Who do you-"

"Right away!"

In moments, the clown brought 15 large bags of food before him. With that much, they might not have to stop at gecko island. But thinking back to the tension building between Nami and his girlfriend, Luffy decided it would be good to have a second stop for them to calm down.

Everyone looked at the clown strangely until one pirate got fed up and suddenly charged at Luffy. Seeing this, all the pirates followed and ran at the group.

Hancock looked on outraged and used Rankyaku to send an air blade at the incoming group, slicing half of them in two at waist level. As if copying her, Kunia used her one sword technique to kill the rest.

Of the once feared Clown pirates only three remained once the pair had finished their onslaught, the one who looked like a clown, the one who looked like an acrobat and the one looking like an animal trainer.

"P-please spare us!"

Luffy raised an eyebrow at the terrified look from he earned from the clown earning when his darkness consumed the pile of food. He was used to people being scared of his power, but not to that extent.

"Right, so you're valuables?"

"O-of course"

The clown's torso then split away from his waist, disappearing briefly inside the ship before coming out carrying a large chest full of money and repeating the same process until dozens of chests piled up on the deck.

As they were about to hop off Luffy paused and turned back so that he was looking at the clown.

"You ate a devil fruit?"

The clown nodded so fast it was as if his life depended on it.

"Our crew is still small but there is room for… aggressive expansion. Are you interested?"

Luffy didn't know the clown or what he was worth in a fight, but devil fruit users were always a strength to have. The clown trembled before managing a few words.

"I-it would be an honor…"

"You can say no, if you want"

The clown hesitated before shaking his head. And turning to the two officers.

"Thank you for following me all those years. Farewell."

And with that Buggy left, without looking back. Buggy was a survivor, he knew there was much more to gain by joining a future powerhouse early than staying in a corner of the world doing small time piracy. For Buggy held no doubt that the young man before him would one day be the most powerful on these seas anyone who had witnessed the potential of his power wouldn't even question it. But even if he refused and the monster didn't end up killing him, he had still just lost his whole crew.

And so, with a new member on board. The group continued their journey.

 **AN: Sorry for the short chapter. I've had midterms recently, so I didn't get much time and I currently suffer from a huge lack of motivation. Still the take on the orange town arc was small so I decided to post it. Please Rate & Review**


	11. Chapter 10: Anger

**AN: A warning to Usopp lovers, he is far from my favorite one piece character. In fact, I borderline hate him… there will be Usopp bashing in this chap.**

 _A few days later_

In the last few days the group had integrated Buggy quite well. While he was originally left out due to his being the only guy besides Luffy, when he revealed he was once a part of the pirate king's crew and started telling them stories of his time in the new world, he ended up fitting in.

It took a while for him to get used to Luffy's Darkness but once he realized it was a devil fruit and not some power straight out of the depths of hell, he managed to calm down a bit.

Currently their ship was approaching their final stop before Rifco Island. Gecko Island was rather isolated, much like Orange town, yet much smaller. The island had only a few hundred inhabitants and was mostly the private island of a rich merchant family.

As the crew landed on the beach of a cove on the south side of the island, Buggy stayed back to guard the ship along with Nami who didn't fully trust him yet and feared he would run off. Seeing Nami stay on the ship, Hancock grew suspicious that she might attempt or start planning something and decide to stay behind to keep an eye on her. 'What if she sabotages my cooking utensils?', she had explained matter-of-factly. While Luffy did love Hancock, he had to admit she could be very… irrational, at times.

As he, Robin and Kuina disembarked, a shrill voice sounded.

"Stay back, foul pirates! This island belongs to the great captain Usopp!"

"Who's that ?"

"Fufufu, you haven't heard? I'm the greatest pirate in the world! I have a million men under my command!"

But Luffy wasn't asking the voice, he was asking Robin.

As far as he was concerned, Robin knew everything, which wasn't far from the truth. Robin's photographic memory allowed her to memorize the names of every single pirate known to the public as well as a few that weren't thanks to her unrivaled ability to spy on others. Before they left Dawn Island, she left few eyes and ears in the Marine's East Blue HQ using her **Hana Hana No Mi.** Thanks to them she could hear and see everything going on there in Realtime.

Which made it all the more believable when she answered:

"There is no such captain, in the East Blue or else were. One 'Captain Usopp' was indeed reported six years ago in the West Blue, Bounty of 3 000 beli. It was collected by a 14-year-old who found him dead in an alley of Los town. I do have a few pirates named Usopp, the most prominent of which is Dral Usopp. Bounty: 60 000 beli. Navigator to the Misc Pirates, operates in the South Blue, captain: Gesto the eye, Bounty: 100 000 beli."

After that thorough report, a few seconds of silence reigned. Before the shrill voice sounded once more.

"Y-you're mistaken! If you want proof, here are a few of my men!"

Immediately, six flags rose up by twos and started waving awkwardly. Luffy simply rolled his eyes and moved forward, followed by Kunia and Robin. Suddenly, a projectile flew towards and hit the ground right in front of him.

"Don't come any closer!"

Luffy looked up bored, yet with slightly murderous eyes, and spoke.

"Listen kid, because I won't say it again. Fuck with me again, and I'll bash your face in."

The bushes began to tremble and when Luffy resumed walking, no projectiles came flying again. But as they reached the end of the path leading out of the cove and towards the village, a weirdly dressed kid with a long nose stood before them. He tried to look brave, but his legs were trembling like twigs in a storm.

"I can't let you harm the village!"

"... what makes you think I want to harm your village?"

"You're Pirates, you came with a marine ship, yet you don't wear any uniforms. You can only be pirates in disguise trying to sneak up on us!"

"Perceptive… but wrong. We just need supplies, that we'll pay for."

"Huh! Why didn't you just say so, come with me."

And with that the boy led them towards the manor onto of a hill in the distance.

"So, who are you?"

"I'm Captain Monkey D. Luffy, this is my swordswoman Kuina and my information officer Robin."

"Nice to meet you! I'm the Great Captain Usopp! I'm sure we'll meet again when I sent out to become a brave warrior of the sea!"

Luffy simply ignored 80% of what he said and shook the kid's hand as they continued walking. After a few minutes of silence, Usopp spoke once more, this time to say something useful.

"The Island belongs to Kaya's family, most of the people here worked for them. But they died a while back. All of the food produced here belongs to Kaya, the manor consumes a part of it and the rest is for the villagers. If you want to buy food, you need to talk to Kaya."

The group walked through a large plantation on their way to the manor, prompting Luffy to ask.

"What do you grow here?"

"Aside from wheat, there are sugar, coffee and cotton plantations across the island. A merchant ship comes through here to buy it up once a month."

Luffy rolled his eyes at the stupidity of the kid for telling that to a pirate… Soon they arrived at the manor and a strange looking butler who looked like a sheep greeted them. They were promptly led to the master bedroom where a sick looking blond girl sat by the window.

Luffy politely greeted the girl after he was introduced. But as he was about to begin discussing buying food, a black haired, bi-spectacle butler barged in.

"My lady apologies, there was a mistake. These filthy peasants were let in without my permission. I had explicitly forbidden the long nosed one from setting foot in the manor."

"It's okay, Klahadore _._ This is captain Monkey D. Luffy. He's a pirate, how exciting!"

The butler's eyes narrowed.

"Pirates? Them? They are either scammers or the most pathetic crew on these seas."

"Hey! I wouldn't have brought them if they were scammers!" shouted Usopp

"How dare you speak back to me you filthy vagabond. I-"

"Whatever get lost. I was talking over here." interrupted Luffy

"My word, such rudeness could only come from the most uneducated of baboons. Definitely a pirate." retorted the butler.

At this Luffy, finally took a step towards the butler.

"What did you call me?"

The butler grinned victoriously.

"An Uneducated Baboon…"

Luffy stayed silent for a while looking into the butler's eyes, before nodding his head towards him and saying.

"Kuina, separate that fucker's head from his body."

With a quick 'yes, captain', Kuina unsheathed her blade and swung at the butler's neck. The blade drew a perfect trajectory and would have cleanly decapitated its target had Klahadore not unexpectedly dodged.

"Stop this!" shouted Kaya

But both Luffy and Kuina ignore her pleas. Only after the butler had dodged two more swings, did he pulled a pistol and aimed at the swordswoman.

"I warn you, stop this or I'll shoot!"

Kuro cursed the absence of his claws, if he had them, the fight would have been over quickly. He hadn't expected the kid to order him killed! He thought he would get punched and could act like the victim. In a way, this worked too but had he been a step slower, he would be dead.

"Drop the sword"

Kuina looked at Luffy questioningly. Luffy sighed and let out a simple 'Robin?'. In less than a breath, Klahadore was on his knees, held in place by four slender arms that sprung from his back.

Kuro's eyes widened as the sword claimed his head before he could even begin to beg for his life.

Blood squirted everywhere, Kaya fainted and Usopp was paralyzed with fear. Recognizing any negotiation was over, Luffy simply made his way towards the cellar. After kicking the door open, Luffy's darkness spread, absorbing half of the food stored in the small space.

And as quickly as he came, Luffy made his way to the exit.

But before he could leave, he was stopped by an enraged Usopp with narrowed eyes.

"How dare you! EGG SHOT!"

In less than a second the boy pulled a slingshot and fired a projectile towards Luffy. But in a single swift hand movement, he caught it inches before his face. Contemplating the object before throwing it to the side he asked amused:

"A rotten egg? Seriously?"

"You think it's funny! I'm very serious! This is my way of fighting! Red star!"

A red projectile was fired once more towards Luffy's mouth, but the target simply shifted his head and the projectile went right past him.

"Listen Luffy! I'll defeat you for sure and avenge Kaya!"

"Too bad kid, but I had warned you…"

Suddenly Luffy became a blur. Less than a fraction of a second later, his fist collided with Usopp's face. The long-nosed boy was sent crashing to the ground. Luffy walked over to the fallen boy, grabbed him by the collar and began bashing his face in with his fist.

"You think you can act tough? After what I did for you! That fucker insulted you too!"

Usopp made an attempt at fighting back that was mercilessly crushed with a knee to the stomach.

"You're so weak! You lie about being some great pirate, but you're just a coward who'll get beat up by the first bandit that comes walking- wait a minute."

With Usopp's trademark nose broken into a mash, he looked exactly like Yasopp, from Shanks Crew.

"Are you Yassop's kid?"

"Y-you k-k-know my f-father?"

Asked Usopp with difficulty.

"Yeah! He ran with a Crew back when I was a kid. Use to brag about his pregnant wife he had to leave behind, at the time I thought it was cool. 'He gave up on his family because he loved adventure so much' I though."

Luffy said with a nostalgic expression.

"But I woke up real fast. The truth was he abandoned his wife and unborn son, out of a selfish desire to get drunk with his mates while cruising around the world. I bet the bastard didn't even send money back to help out. Probably never sent a letter either."

Usopp began tearing, and not because of the pain.

"I guess I can't blame you for how you turned out… But let me tell you this: The world isn't all sunshine and roses, kid. People die, most of the time when they don't deserve it. If you want to live on the seas it ain't enough to be tough no more, you gotta be mean. You gotta become a killer. Don't let people step on you or they'll eat you. And no matter what, ditch the false bravado. If you're weak, own it and get stronger. If not… you'll be dead in a week. Ditch the slingshot too, you got good aim so buy a gun."

Luffy got up and out of the house before turning his head one last time.

"Who knows, we may let meet again."

 **AN: So, I Bulldozed trough here again. As you might notice, the fight against Usopp was similar to the one for the Merry. That's because I was SUPER frustrated with that episode. I mean seriously, Usopp holding out against Luffy?! Plus it was just so ridiculous I felt like I was suppose to laugh, but it he was just so pathetic. Anyway, that's how I wish it would have gone.**

 **Also, am I the only one to find Yasopp is kind of the most irresponsible dad ever…**

 **Please Review.**


	12. Chapter 11: The Ship

After the incidents of Gekko island, it took the group less than a week to reach their final stop before Logue town: Rifco Island.

Rifco Island was the main producer of ships in the east blue and looked the part. Even from where Luffy stood, a few mile away from the coast, the island looked like a giant monster blowing smoke out of countless chimneys like the breath of a dragon, the sound of sawing rippling across the sea like a continuous growl. The only semblance of normality being the marine base that stuck to the side of the island.

When they docked, Nami was the first to jump off and quickly began talking with the dockmaster. While she was haggling about something, the rest of the crew got off after Luffy collected all their belongings into his darkness. It took only a few moments before Nami and the dockmaster shook hands and she came back all smiles.

"He won't report our arrival or charge us, in exchange for the boat."

"Good work! Now where's our ship?" asked Luffy expectantly.

At this Nami beamed and impatiently led them to the center on the island. On the way she went into a detailed description of the island.

"Rifco is actually a volcano, all the saws, forges, mills, presses and rails are power using steam that comes from the ground! The best shipwright out of the Grandline even set up shop here, his factory is inside the crater, that's where we're going. Last time I came by, the ship was already taking form and it looked great!"

Despite Nami's enthusiasm it took them a while to climb the volcano. But once on the edge, they saw a gigantic building with a huge whistling chimney. To their surprise when reaching the top, there was no stink of sulfur.

"There's a boiling lake beneath us, the ground inside the crater is artificial. The lack of escape creates pressure that is released to power the machines. Essentially, they turned the volcano's crater into a huge boiler. Come on!"

The march down was far easier than the one up and they soon arrive before the large metal doors were a tall muscular man waited for them.

"You're late…"

"Sorry about that, we got delayed. Anyway, please show my captain your boss's masterpiece!"

The man grumbled as he opened the doors, before leading the crew inside.

"Boss! Orange hair is back!"

Luffy and all those behind him stopped in their tracks. Before them, hanging from the ceiling with large metal chains, was a large, awe inspiring three mast ship. The hull was dark as night with openings from which 30 intimidating cannons pointed out. The quarterdeck of the ship was two stories high with tall tainted windows displaying a hooded woman praying. But the prow of the ship was far more terrifying, the figurehead was the dark head of an Oni, 3 meters wide and 5 meters height.

Suddenly a stunted figure with a large bead appeared out of nowhere.

"Miss. Nami, I was beginning to think you would never come"

"And abandon such a work of art?"

"Oh, I would find a buyer in a heartbeat! In fact, had I known it would turn out so good I would've charged you double. But whatever, I'm a dwarf of my word! Come on up, I'll show you around"

Luffy excitedly leaped onto the ship with an impressive 10m jump, soon followed by Hancock and Robin, while Buggy, Nami and Kuina had to take the ramp as they were unable to make the leap.

Without even acknowledging Luffy, the dwarf began:

"As you might have realized, the hull has been plated to increase protection. What you probably don't know is that this isn't any banal darkened steel, it's a unique metal I found in this very volcano. Due to the tides which alternate with heat bursts, it's been heated and cooled over and over for hundreds of years. Oh, and it somehow fused with obsidian giving it the dark color."

Said the craftsman while proudly knocking on the hull.

"The rest of the ship is made using Kangus Wood, which is basically normal wood, but half as heavy and twice as hard. It compensates for the plating's added weight."

Indicated the dwarf while lovingly stroking the deck.

"Sails are boring so I won't linger, I made them black to match with the hull but you can change them if you want."

He dismissed, before leading the group into the hold.

"We have two stories holding space: first level is for guns, which I'll get back to, common crew quarters, dining room and kitchen. The second level: prison cells and cargo hold. 46 cubic meters of space and up to 13 tons capacity. But the real kick is down here."

The dwarf sneakily opened a hatch and jumped down. Luffy and his group followed, only to find themselves in a cramped area looking at a strange wheel and what looked like an engine.

"This is a steam powered paddle. It's not that powerful but it'll save your sorry asses if you end up in the calm belt! Whether you use coal, oil or whatever wizardry to heat it is your business."

Said the dwarf while gesturing toward the contraption.

The dwarf then lead them back to the first level of the hold, waiting for the whole group to gather before opening the double doors at the rear, revealing a large room at the center of which was a long dining table with a luxurious leather chair, much larger than the others, at the tail end. The sides of the room were lined with couches. Except for the rear wall, which sported another set of double doors that the dwarf opened to reveal a huge, 5-star restaurant level kitchen.

"This is pretty self-explanatory…"

Deadpanned the dwarf as he doubled back and climbed back onto the deck. The dwarf then headed towards the quarter deck, going directly to its second level while ignoring the double doors in-between the two flanking staircases. When he opened one of the two doors on the second level, he revealed a large bathtub and a few shower heads on the wall.

"Right for men, left for ladies"

Dropped the dwarf before moving on, visibly disinterested in normal appliances. He then got to the top level of the quarter deck where the wheel stood along with two strange looking cannons and a mysterious lever.

"That's the wheel, you get it. Moving on: GUNS!"

The dwarf suddenly became very excited. And almost ran down to the gun deck.

"I have got for you, THE master pieces of my career. We shall start with the flank cannons.

30 of the finest pieces of artillery ever produced in this fine establishment, reinforced blackened steel for each, rifling of course (I'm not a savage), rails and springs to control recoil and breech loaded."

The Dwarf sang while caressing one of the canons.

"You have a weird relationship to technology…" muttered Kuina

"The rear guns are different, instead of normal canons, I installed a pair of oil throwers. The oil floats and you set it ablaze to keep any pursuers at bay. Simple!"

The Dwarf bragged while attempting to imitate a burning sea with his hands.

"Chaser guns! Well hidden in the figurehead eyes, these babies have an effective range of around 700m. Not that you'll need them considering this ship can out run most ships on the grand line."

Explained the dwarf while pretending to hold a sniper rifle. Leading them off the ship, the dwarf brought them in front of the figure head.

"But all of these are just sideshows for the main event…"

The dwarf then signaled the tall man from before, now standing on the quarter deck in front of the wheel, who pulled the mysterious lever.

Suddenly, the mouth of the Oni figure head began to open slowly, revealing a huge barrel.

"What is that?"

"That, dear customer, is my newest invention. Few years back, I found this weird red crystal shard in the Volcano. Didn't know what it was so I picked up 'cause it was pretty. Anyway, one day I dropped it in the forge to see if I could change the shape, but then when I hammered it, the thing sent out a beam that melted right through that wall over there."

The dwarf then pointed to a large steel wall.

"Anyway, tried a few things on it and basically if you heat it, then suddenly hit it, it'll send a beam proportional to the temperature it accumulated. So, I put the shard in a tube of glass along with a few magnifying glasses that direct sunlight to it, added a spring-loaded percussion and Voila! Wait for a day's worth of concentrated sunlight to accumulate into the shard, pull the trigger and it'll melt through anything! Questions?"

The Dwarf then proudly stood in a power pose awaiting praise.

"Good job. But what about the captain's cabin?"

Asked Hancock anxiously. Surprisingly, Hancock's beauty had no effect on the the dwarf.

"Oh right... "

Nami paled.

The dwarf led them back to the deck and opened the double doors he had ignored before. The room was huge, it even had a balcony going around the entire quarter deck. There were empty bookshelves, a large desk, a comfy armchair and...

"As miss. Nami annoyingly and repeatedly _insisted_ , a king-size bed, private heated jacuzzi, and... sound proof walls."

The whole crew turned to Nami, who simply looked down embarrassed.

"*Cough* Great job, Mr. … sorry, your name?" asked Luffy

"Grimly…"

"Well, Mr. Grimly. Here's your money. You earned every penny!" said Luffy honestly before waving his hand, summoning a pile of bills from his darkness. "Now how do we get it in the water?"

"*scoff* of course I earned every penny! As to get your ship to the sea, use the island rail. I already loaded it onto the crane that'll get it out of the crater. Pay the toll to the marines, register yourselves and they'll let you use the rail."

"Right… we won't be doing that."

With those words, the ship was engulfed in darkness and sank into nothing within seconds. Unfazed, the dwarf shrugged:

"Suit yourself, but you should at least register. Regardless that's it's goanna be a pain to dock at civilized harbors without it, and that's it's the law, when I gave them a copy of the blue-prints they were very interested in who the buyer was."

Luffy, who was starting to leave, froze in his steps. Slowly, he turned around to look at the dwarf dead in the eyes.

"...You gave them a copy of the blue prints?"

The dark-haired boy asked icily and for the first time, the dwarf faltered.

"Y-yeah, it's the law…"

Luffy began to menacingly walk towards the poor dwarf.

"Did they send it back to headquarters?"

"N-no I only gave it to them yesterday…"

Luffy got even closer before he asked

"Where are the original blueprints?"

The dwarf darted to a cabinet and hastily came back with a few rolls of paper, which Luffy promptly stored in his darkness.

"Any more Copies?"

He asked looking down on the dwarf who quickly shook his head.

Luffy contemplated for a while, before nodding

"Your buyer never showed, so you scrapped the ship. You've never seen any of us, understand?"

The dwarf hastily nodded.

"Good… Because if the anyone ever gets those blue prints, I'll know, and you'll be dead."

"Luffy, maybe we should just kill him, it's pretty common for engineers to get offed after a construction. In Alabasta, the ancients would bury ever single worker inside the tombs they built, to keep its secrets."

Added Robin. Grimly shivered, but just as he was going to start begging, Luffy spoke:

"No, he gets it. Don't you?"

"O-of course."

"But know, that because of your foolishness, innocent young men will die."

Luffy turned to his crew, his black coat fluttering behind him.

"To the marine base then…"

 **AN: Sorry, it took a while but here we are! Wasn't easy to get the ship right. Please rate and review.**


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